February 26, 2011

RAK's make me a happy Pax!

RAK (aar-aa-k). Noun. Adverb. Adjective.


The Act of unexpectedly doing something nice for someone unsuspecting

(RAK-Random Act of Kindness).
[Dictionary of Marion-ism's]

February 22, 2011

Paxing munchies to newest Adoptee...

Sometime this week - somewhere Downrange - my newest adopted soldier (via Soldiers' Angels of course) should be receiving my first letter to him.  In it he will learn that his fate has become intertwined with a goofy Aussie (well.. until he returns home that is... or runs screaming like a girlie to request a substitute [management wishes to advise that no Soldiers/Airmen have yet run screaming like a girlie... must be my luck in getting the stout hearted ones! :D]) and that from here on in he will be the recipient of oddities via the postal service.

And the first batch of Aussie Oddities has just been ordered for him... we have the usual two flag pin that I love to send to all my adoptees


And some exciting Australian Munchies - including a pack of Timtams! (sadly it's soon to be hot hot hot over there so this will probably be his only chance at the chocolate coated goodness)

Photo for illustrative purposes only - plain timtams sent (and no penguins)
 I've also sent him some Musk Sticks (long time readers will remember this post!) Let's see how he goes with them :)

There are also a few other munchies and a Toy (because what sort of surprise parcel would it be without the silly fuzzy thing that he can hug and squeeze and call George (or Joey :D). 

Hopefully I'll have some contact with him shortly via email so that I can get an idea of what his likes & dislikes and needs are - then the next parcel to be sent could possibly contain something useful! (or not... really depends if he needs something to laugh at more than he needs something practical)

Pax over and out

February 14, 2011

February catch up

+  Contact has been established with newest Soldiers' Angel adoptee - he should be receiving initial communications sometime soonish, and a munchie parcel of Aussie biscuits (ie. cookies) will soon follow.

+  Second round of goodies has reached Sgt G.  He assures me he can make use of the stove-top popcorn popper somehow [pax makes mental note - check first if the guys have the required equipment prior to doing the "it's 3am... I've got burning insomnia.... and Amazon.com has shiny things!" ordering run].  Apparently his team are wickedly good at making fires so I expect they'll manage to get the corn popped eventually (hopefully with action photos supplied!... and yes.. that could be a HINT! :D)

+  MP. C has gone Stop Mail.  He's due home in about five weeks.  Really happy he'll be back home and safe soon.

+  Spork & Snuggie has been supplied to JJ.  Not even remotely exciting / glamorous but useful.  Oh and apparently it's still snowing & icy in his part of Downrange :(

+  More "Cup of Joe" donations have been purchased and sent off with a cheery note that seems to primarily discuss the weather (sorry... sorry... it's a preoccupation over here at the moment - what with the recent floods, and rains, and tropical storms. At least we don't have earthquakes or bush fires to worry about at the moment! Small blessings!). 
At least the recipients of my caffeinated largess can use the coffee/tea to keep themselves awake and avoid nodding off over the note of non-excitement. (although enquiring minds... ie. me... want to know if Downrange Green Beans shops have Muffins available too?  Anyone know the answer? cause whats the good of a coffee without the muffiny goodness?*)

At home news.  My Mum's doing okay.  She's had a new medication prescribed in place of the one that was making her sleep her days away.  She remains up beat and motivated.

And I'm told that today has been re-named by many to "Singles Awareness Day".   Now wondering what the Valentines Day equivalent of "Bah! Humbug!" would be?  For those playing along at home - why no, this years day of Red & Roses was not a happy one for me. Rather par for course if you want to refer back to last years post

*why yes.. yes.. I am once again running on only about 3 hours sleep and therefore channeling my inner space-cadet. However did you guess? :)

February 12, 2011

Bloomin' Pax

 

 

“A single rose can be my garden...a single friend, my world.” Leo F. Buscaglia


Well V-day is upon us once again.  For those of you with love, and in love - some meanings of the colours of Roses.


Red Roses: an unmistakable expression of love. Red Roses convey deep emotions - be it love, longing or desire. Red Roses can also be used to convey respect, admiration or devotion. A deep red rose can be used to convey heartfelt regret and sorrow.


White Roses: White is the color of purity, chastity and innocence. White flowers can be used to convey sympathy or humility. They also are indicative of spirituality.
Yellow Roses: evoke sunny feelings of joy, warmth and welcome. They are symbols of friendship and caring.

Pink Roses: are used to convey gentle emotions such as admiration, joy and gratitude.

Orange Roses: These fiery blooms signify passion and energy. Orange roses can be used to express intense desire, pride and fervor. They also convey a sense of fascination. These flowers rival only the red roses as messengers of passion in romance.

Lavender Roses: conveys enchantment. It also expresses "love at first sight" . Darker shades of lavender roses (close to purple) convey a sense of regal majesty and splendor. These roses are used to express fascination and adoration.

Blue Roses: A perfectly blue rose is still elusive like the perfectly black rose. Blue roses cannot be achieved naturally so they represent the unattainable or the mysterious. Blue roses therefore embody the desire for the unattainable. They say "I can't have you but I can't stop thinking about you"

Black Roses: Black is the color of death and farewell.  Sending black roses to someone indicates the death of the relationship.

February 9, 2011

Musical interlude...

Wendy Matthews - The Day You Went Away

Pax needs some technical assistance

My old Livejournal blog may be heading for oblivion if the current rumours about the way LJ's current owners are correct.

Since I have posts dating back to 2003 - some of them vaguely witty, others containing information I'd love to keep - I'd ideally like to some how transfer them over to this blog.

However I need to be able to change the new post date to keep them in order.

Anyone have any clues how I do that? is there a "change the date" button I can't actually see?

Any assistance would be super! :)

Pax

February 8, 2011

Thar be Monsters Here!

...well actually one monster... downrange.

My Newest adopted soldier shares my love of Monty Python a British comedy group who made such funny films as "Monty Python and the Holy Grail" (which has also been turned into a Musical).

So when it came time for me to send him something amusing (to break the ice on the whole "weird gifts sent from the Goofy Aussie girl") I needed to find him something cute and fluffy and teddy-bear like.
But not an actual Teddy-bear - after all - he's a big tough USA Army Sgt and they have a reputation of Manliness to uphold and perpetuate. Or so I'm told :)*

So I searched, and searched, and searched some more, and found him something that I thought might be *just the thing*.  And had it sent off to him at his dry & dusty base.

Behold and quiver at the mightiness of the Black Beast of Aaaaarrrrrrggghhh  
(also known as "Joey")

It seems Joey's fitting in nicely - and has developed a taste for shiny dog tags....

and a good appreciation of an effective firearm...

I haven't heard yet how he goes with Holy Hand Grenades but I'm willing to beat he can count to at least five three.

As a substitute Teddy-bear for my adoptee I think he's going well!

*I also believe in truth, justice, the pursuit of happiness and the Easter Bunny!

This post brought to you by the numbers three and five; the Letter Y and as a "go on - mention Joey" plea from someone that shall remain unnamed err he sayeth "Ni" at me.

February 4, 2011

To Snuggie or Not to Snuggie - Pax asks the question

So my Adopted Soldier JJ is cold and miserable Downrange (sick too as his latest Facebook post mentions).

Now do I send him one of THESE to keep him warm? - would this impact upon his level of Manliness?

The Polls are now open - and your voting should be Aye / Nay / or "maybe in pink"

*V*
*V*
*V*





Edited to add... My friends are so cruel (and funny). One of them suggested this as a nice compromise to the Camo/pink question.

Footy PJ's

February 1, 2011

Milsupport Bingo - Do you play too?

So every now and then I read a post from a fellow Mil supporter - mentioning what goodies they've sent off.  The more unusual / fascinating objects then stick in my mind as "ooh I'd love to send that to X downrange" and get added to the "when I can afford / when he/she needs it" list that stores itself in the recesses of my brain.

And when I do manage to ship an item on "THE LIST" off to an adopted soldier, I mentally apply one of those hideously cheerfully coloured bingo markers and mark it as achieved.

Occasionally in the dead of night the neighbours may hear a muffled BINGO!

Latest item to go (giving me Legs-eleven) was a Spork.  Sadly in a dull metallic titanium colour as Amazon.com has issues with sending the multi-coloured strengthened plastic ones Downrange.

Dull, boring but extremely useful (and hopefully tough enough to deal with MRE's) and apparently exactly what my Soldier needs in their life.

So anyone else have weird gift-giving rituals - or am I alone (yet again) in my oddities?