Pax and Hobbies

End of October (almost) so a quick round-up of the months endeavours are in order.

All four of my adopted troops are well and safe.  Two will hopefully be heading home to the USA before Christmas; one has been extended until early 2012; and the last one is stationed "Somewhere not ending in 'Stan" and will be there for another 6 or 7 months or so. (as long as he learns to live with the exotic aroma of Kimchi he'll be okay).

Cards and some small items have been sent along to them in the last month.  For my two guys serving during Christmas, I have found some packs of blank Christmas cards that they can share with their battle buddies - and send to their loved ones at home.


Found them HERE

For my other friends around and about the place - a few other goodies were sent across the waves.

Coffeypot got his hat :)

The winner of the beanie got his hat too!

And the winner of the 200th post Army medallion has confirmed receipt as well :)

Wow I feel a bit like Santa's helper with the amount of things being sent out!

Oh and there is hopefully a smiling (oh please be smiling - and not that "you have amused me enough and now must be ninja'd" grin) friend who received one of these

That makes five of those that I've found and sent out [my four adopted troopers all were happy recipients. One said there was just something special about the implied ka-booms]

Oh and my ninja friend also has one of these - minus the Rising Sun hat pin and slouch clip-

Genuine Akubra!

 He had mentioned some months ago that he really wanted a hat similar to the Aussie Army slouch hats (same colour - same basic style) and well... I'm a bit of a sucker in trying to make people smile so I found him one.

[as a FYI the open crown - in khaki colour - only really comes in the Slouch variety so my happy hat supplier sent me one without the extra bits (badge & slouch clips) but evidence that he'd done a quick bit of unpicking.  He was indeed chuffed at the thought of an Aussie Slouch heading into the hands of a Fearsome USA ninja :D]

In at home news - renovations are on-going.  Veranda has now been tiled [for those that recall - it was supposed to be a "let's teach Pax how to tile so she can go on and do the kitchen herself" - instead it turned in to the usual "Your Father knows best - now be a good girl and watch".  Sigh... one day my parents just might realise that I'm no longer four... ].  Oh and wooden flooring has been installed in the living room (photos to come whenever I manage to put my main computer back together and retrieve them).  I still need to repaint the walls of the Living room; complete the veranda sprucing up (there will be lattice and some attempt to grow climbing plants!) and do the full kitchen refit. Thank heavens I decided not to do anything to the bedroom - or I'd be completely swamped!

Oh.. and in other hobbies (since I guess my Milsupport falls under "obsessive hobby to make adoptee's feel appreciated") - I am a bit of a "Girl" when it comes to collecting some rather exciting examples of gender-specific toys.  (erm... that would translate to "Pax collects Barbies" I guess).

I only have a few - and all are mint-in-box (and I justify my hobby by declaring them as "Investments" instead of "dust-gathering over-priced junk" - as one my ex's was wont to call them) - and I like the unusual or utterly geeky.

However I don't believe I can really see me adding THIS one to my collection any time soon.  She just looks a bit too perky for my taste (plus... I can't see any zombie-destroying arsenal. And how can you be a Marine without the Z_D_A??)

 And that's all from me so Goodnight All.

Tired Pax is Tired

Well it is the last day of my recreation leave today and I don't feel that I have achieved enough.

True I have the door varnishing almost conquered [the outside has been all sanded back with fine grade sandpaper and therefore only requires another coat or two to finish. The Inside is to be sanded today].  I am cranky that I still haven't been able to do the overlapped bits - due to the installer playing "Oh! Sorry! How about tomorrow?" with me for most of the week.  He has now said "Saturday PM! Definitely!" - which is all well and good that I might finally get the doors off the sliding rails to finish painting - but gives me no idea of when I can get them rehung [hopefully I can learn the trick to getting them on & off and can just get some strong-armed help Sunday night to rehang].

Oh and yes - I have organised the new living room floor installation.  Contract signed for wooden floor boards to cover the floor area - and installation for sometime in October.

Still dithering over floor tiles for the hall, kitchen & balcony but I'm getting closer to a choice on that.  I need to purchase those in bulk and store them for now as I will be (eventually) learning how to tile from my Dad (with the balcony as the "learning zone").  The Hall is also an easy area to do. 

The Kitchen... sigh... that's a whole 'nother drama there that I will close my eyes to, cover my ears with my hands and loudly sing "La La La" till it magically goes away.  [but if any of my blogging friends know anything about re-planning kitchen space so that there is room for a table? - please contact me!]

Now if only I had another week of leave - I might actually find time to do that whole "relaxing" thing (or not... Pax's in a natural state of rest tend to devour books, donuts and annoy the cat by hogging the couch)

In other news - I think I will extend the drawing of the woolen hat to early next week.  So you have another few days to enter (or if you are on the Navy vs. Marine all-in-brawling teams - you have time to add a few more amusing exchanges)

Now excuse me as I go to once more apply varnish - wait for it to dry - sand it back - and then do a final coat. 

My Life - So Darn Exciting!

Pax - Lost in Translation (again)

Looks like I've found another "almost-the-same-but-weirdly-different" factor between the Aussies and Americans.

I've received an email from Soldiers Angels http://soldiersangels.org/ suggesting that I can send special happy packs of Valentine's treats to my adoptees.

Which seemed weird (to me) since they have a rather strict code of conduct you agree to before adopting any of the troops - most expressly that it's not a dating service and inappropriate behaviour will be sanctioned against.  [disclaimer to avoid any misconceptions. I try very hard to maintain a "just good friends" vibe with my current three adoptees.  They are all sweet guys but only one has turned out to be a true friend (ie. he accepts my quirkiness and mostly laughs *with* me). The other two (possibly in their own defence) seem to file me under "aussie amusement factor #1" and approach cautiously at all times. It's highly amusing!]

Over here (Australia) those that indulge* in the V day do so between lovers/couples only [or ex-lovers... I once sent a triffid substitute** to an ex - after all "say it with flowers - send one that can spit death & mayhem if you can" - sadly he thought it was the Best Joke eVr and fail to die 'orribly from plant spit]

So I'm guessing that in the USA the emphasis is on giving Things Of Pink & Red - no matter how tenuous the connection between parties? Is anything overt implied by the gifting or receiving??

Enlighten me Oh My Blogger-mates!

* "those that indulge" do not actually include my household as my boyfriend prides himself on being the anti-romancer (I'm thinking of designing him a super-suit to wear - probably liver and beans coloured with a slashed out heart in the middle).  Not that I'm bitter or anything - for the first few years of our relationship I would try to ensure that I kept the romance alive - eventually it dawned on me that one-sided romance could be seen as the first sign of obsession so I've let it slip quietly by the way

**Venus fly traps make wonderful Triffid substitutes!

   http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Triffid

http://marionsmeepings.blogspot.com/