Pax's 200th Blog Post and a Prize

***edited to add - If you find that blogger won't let you leave a comment to enter the competition please email me your interest @ paxford AT gmail DOT com and I will manually enter your name into the draw***


The Meepings first began way back in the mists of time (well... 22nd of November 2005 actually) and was created as a base for my "serious" posts (and then promptly forgotten for a few years - whoops!), with the silly stuff and meme's (oh jeezss the amount of stupid memes) taking up room on my LiveJournal account.  Over the years I lost interest in LJing and moved over to Blogger as my primary means of communicating with the world at large.

Mid 2009 saw me begin my tentative forays in to the world of Military Support and regular postings here.  I learnt, over time, what my adopted troops might like, and what might make them smile; and I was blessed to make contact with some amazing people across the Globe, many of whom remain my good (if distant) friends today. And over the years some really amazing gifts have reached me too!

So in celebration of the 200th post - and as thanks to my friends and readers (many one and the same!) - I would like to run a very special competition.

Well... the prize is very special - the competition just run of the mill.

Front

Reverse

Actual size - approx 2 inches

This medallion celebrates the 110th anniversary of the formation of the Australian Army. 

Our Country became a federation in 1901 (when the Six States agreed to join together as one nation).

To Enter to win this Medallion all you need to do is post a reply to this blog entry saying "YES I WANT TO ENTER" - or words to that effect. 

The Competition will run until the 8th of October and will be a simple "name drawn from hat" method of picking the winner.

Rules
You do NOT need to be a regular reader of this blog to enter (but once you get here - stick around! I can be really amusing at times :D)

You can be from anywhere in the world. All that I ask is that you respect that this item represents my Country's military, and is to be treated as a prized possession.

If you win - you will need to supply me with a mailing address. I promise to hold the information safely and never share it beyond my Post Office.

If you leave your entry under the "Anonymous" tag - please be sure to add your name or nickname at the bottom.

The Winner will need to contact me by October 14th  at the latest with their mailing address or there will be a redraw.

Be Vwery Quiet...

Evil Pax and her minions are hunting a marine

Say your Pwayers, kiddo

... Ring Ring.... 
"Hello! This is the A.C.M.E supply shop - how can I help you?"
"Umm.. yes... I need the tools to capture an A1S marine"
"Hmm.. our look up guide describes those as VERY difficult to capture - would you prefer our "how to capture a Ravening Yeti" guide instead?"
"No... no... it really needs to be this one particularly pesky person"
"Well.. we *could* send you the 'Instant bear pit' kit [launches into jingle "One flip of the lever and he's no smarter than an average bear"]
"Ahh.. could you throw in one of those Handy-Dandy illudium Q-36 explosive space modulator's as well"?
"Certainly Miss - those come with a portable A.C.M.E medic station. Would you like to take out some A.C.M.E insurance too?"
"...."
"Now will that be cash or charge?"

Stand back! Pax is doing Science!

Breaking news...

dateline Australia... 16th September 2011

Sadly it would seem that my on-going Science experiment has had a wee bit of a set back.

Marines recoiling from the Insidious pinkness

The Finding that "1 in 10 American Military Members don't hate Musk Sticks" has been disproved by my latest set of Guinea Pigs Happy Volunteers* (aka members of the United States Marine Corps)

I am told that a full account of the up-close-and-Pink encounter will be shortly posted by my 'on the spot' assistant** (he that is proffering the Sugary Sweetness in the photo above)

Hmm.. so that is now the USA Army, Air force, Navy & USMC.  Any suggestions on who I should find for my final control group?

Oh and I am so very tempted to get myself on of THESE t-shirts.

I wonder if they make any in pink?

Oh well.. back to the Lab. My Data must be carefully massaged compiled for the final presentation.

******

*Volunteer (n.) pronounced un-witting vic-tim
1. A person who performs or offers to perform a service voluntarily

**Assistant (n.) pronounced Coll-ab-or-ator. 
1. a person who assists or gives aid and support

Un-bear-ably cute

Look!!! It's a  Bear-et!

You can buy them HERE

This Post dedicated to all my friends who just *adore* the beret as a practical Military headwear choice.

(you know who you are :D)

We have a Winner!

Drum roll please....

The winner of the excellent hat of winter wooliness AND Australian Army-ness is.....

KEVIN

Kevin (aka Anonymous AKA [i think] Spider monkey dude) - please contact me via email

(paxford AT gmail DOT com)

And thank you to the other entrants [stay tuned - in a few more months I'll have another exciting prize to dispose of!]

Ding Dong - Cadence Calling

Wait... you mean the miliary don't actually do it like this?? :D

Prayers for the Fallen

They shall be remembered

artwork found HERE

THE LORD IS MY SHEPHERD

The Lord is my shepherd,
I shall not want;
He makes me lie down in green pastures.
He leads me beside still waters;
He restores my soul.
He leads me in paths of righteousness
for His name's sake.

Even though I walk through the valley
of the shadow of death,
I fear no evil;
for You are with me;
Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.

Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me
all the days of my life;
and I shall dwell in the house of the
Lord forever.

Psalm 23

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!

Spring has Sprung

Well... Downunder in Australia it has.  (Our Spring lasts from the 1st of September until the last day of November)

Some of the trees are now blooming and we are heading towards my favourite time of the year - when the Jacaranda trees bloom, coating the streets below them with a layer of purple petals.

Photo found HERE

Jacaranda time coincides with University exams so it is not anticipated by all.  For the Horticulturists amongst us - this is NOT a tree native to Australia, however it became very popular in the 1920's as an ornamental tree for street verges and gardens.

And despite the official decree that "Spring Has Arrived" - the Weather is still a bit nippy, with a forecast of down to 12 degrees celsius tonight (53.6F). So for we delicate sub-tropic dwellers it is still jumper (aka pullover / sweater), extra blankets and electric heater time.

Oh and you may recall I'm in the midst of renovations at my place (segueing slightly from the topic but still weather related - honest!)

These are my new (replacement) veranda doors.  And as soon as they went in I (with the help of Cozzles) gleefully ripped out the rest of the inbuilt sections of the veranda behind them, and had all the junk carted away. The Veranda balcony is now open to the elements and will - in time - become host to a small BBQ (Barbie!) and pots of climbing roses that I will endeavour to keep alive  (Pax does not a green-thumb possess).

I have since discovered a wee bit of a problem with painting the doors - necessitating that the installer returns and lifts both sliding ones OFF until I can varnish the raw areas; and will then return a day or two or more later to put them back up.

So guess who's going to be whining about the cold to you all?  [I have plans to tack up a blanket or two to the outside top facing to block the worst of the chilly breeze; and security-wise none shall pass the partial aluminum siding and shutters]. Luckily I am still on leave from work so I can get the varnishing done super quickly and then beg and plead and whine (no - I have no shame where frozen tootsies are involved) at the installer until he returns and replaces them.

In other news :-

Milsupport for my four adopted troopers is going fairly well.  I managed to send off one of THESE to all my guys. Hopefully it will make them smile whenever they use it.

R.A.K parcel of some Aussie sweeties (aka candy) went off to a new acquaintance.  It was a gesture of Good Will and Troop Support and (sorry... having to pause sligthly so I can have a giggling fit..) Kindness, however it caused a bit of a stir  and therefore Musk Sticks are back on the "Pax must NOT" list [along with various 'Miss Manners' notes like "do not use the word 'sweet' when referring to Marines - it makes them grumpy"; and "do not send Drakkar Noir to anyone that doesn't like Musk Sticks" (however I'm a bit puzzled as to why & how research on that last rule occurred)]

My monthly donation of Coffee vouchers via the Green Beans "Cup of Joe" has been made. This is a really worthwhile and affordable Troop support program and you can find details on how to participate HERE.

And lastly the Competition for the Australian Army insignia hat is still open to entries until this Saturday.  Just please remember to include your name on the entries for them to be valid.

Liechtenstein for Pax?

Now here is an amusing competition - the Mellowest Jihadi - has suggested an "Achievement Unlocked" prize (or something like that :D) for the first blogger of his acquaintance to either register a Viewer stats hit / or be sent a real postcard - from a resident of the wonderful European country of Liechtenstein.

Read all about it HERE

So do any of my regular readers have friends or family or business acquaintances in that zone?

I humbly promise NOT to offer any strange Australian Sweeties if you can assist (that's rather zen don't you think - not offering you a gift of something that you'll probably not like)

Pax offers a Prize

About a fortnight ago I asked if anyone was interested in winning a woolen Australian Army hat.

Well the answer appears to be yes, however there was only one suggestion on how to judge the competition (rhyming Aussie slang contest).

Unfortunately that idea, while it is amusing, would mean I have to wade through the attempts (with possibly one too many references to Pax having "Kangaroos loose in the top paddock") so how about we try the old standby method of:-

You post a reply to this blog entry saying "YES I WANT TO ENTER" - or words to that effect, and then I will have my BFF Cozzles draw out one name from a hat in a weeks time.  Making it fair to all.

Rules

You can be from anywhere in the world. All that I ask is that you respect that this hat represents my Country's military, and is to be treated as a prized possession.

If you win - you will need to supply me with a mailing address.  I promise to hold the information safely and never share it beyond my Post Office.

If you leave your entry under the "Anonymous" tag - please be sure to add your name or nickname at the bottom.

The Winner will need to contact me by September 20th at the latest with their mailing address or there will be a redraw.

And...... GO!