How do you give back?

With the horrible catastrophe that has happened in Japan and the assistance that the military will begin to provide, it has me thinking about how we can all give back. I have done charity work before and it is such a rewarding experience. I am always looking to help people find ways to give back to their community, and so here are some things that YOU can do!

• Call your local Meals on Wheels and help them hand deliver meals to those in need.
• Find your local Humanitarian & Missions Organization and ask them for ways that you can help them.
• Go to www.redcross.org . You can donate blood at a local blood bank, donate money to the red cross, donate your time to deliver water and supplies to disaster areas.
• Clean your local park and recreation area.
• Donate clothes or other household items to your local goodwill.
• Donate money to a scholarship fund.
• Spend time at a local tutoring company helping children who struggle in school 
• Participate in fundraisers and auctions.
• Help out at a local soup kitchen or shelter.
• Visit a nursing home and become a companion to residents there.
• Join Habitat for Humanity and help build decent and affordable housing for those in need.

For opportunities near you, visit www.volunteermatch.org  and type in your zipcode. It will show you all the possibilities for volunteering in your local area.

There are hundreds of ways to help your community. So I will end this post with a question:

What have you done to give back? 
or 
What do you hope to do in the future?

Confessions of a Military Wife

I finally got this book from Amazon.com and I have to tell you a few things about it.

First of all, when the reviews described Mollie Gross as "The Chelsea Handler of the Milspouse community..." they were not joking! She says some pretty brazen, blunt, vulgar things in this book, and I literally have laughed out loud in a few chapters. Gross is a military wife comedienne who travels from base to base to share jokes formed from her experiences. She tends to look at the lighter side of things!

Gross is a Marine wife so some of her accounts of military life are not exactly parallel to what Army wife life will be like, but a lot of the stories she tells about life on post can be related to by every branch of service. 

For those who are wondering, Mollie has a personal website where you can view some video clips of her stand up act, read excerpts from her book, and read articles that she writes for Military Spouse Magazine. Her website is http://www.molliegross.com 

Have you read this book? What do you think of Mollie's writing style?

Army Wives

Lately, I have been addicted to Netflix. The reason? 

Before watching I had read many things about the show, even that it is not realistic at all when it comes to what real army wife life is like. After watching the show you know what I think? OF COURSE it's not realistic. It's TV. It's Drama. Thats what makes it a great show. I have my husband and my family hooked on the show too. This show is great even for people who are not affiliated with the Army in any way.  Best of all, the characters are deep and complex. Of course, you see who they are on the surface, but then as the show progresses, you see each deep layer of their personalities come out as they all strive to help each other as one hardship after another finds its way into their world.

I can't pick a favorite character because they are all fantastic. However, I do hope to be like Claudia Joy. I have even joked with my husband that if a problem arises, ask yourself "What would Claudia Joy do?" LOL.

****SPOILER ALERT****

So far just in the first 3 seasons, we have seen the main characters deal with a hostage situation, a suicide bombing, post traumatic stress disorder, alcoholism, pill addiction, attempted suicide, bodily torture, divorce, complicated pregnancy, a car accident, diabetes, gunshot injury, etc.

crazy right?

Its a great show and I am hooked. Can't wait to finish up season 4 so I can start watching the new season on Lifetime.

Do you watch Army Wives? What do you think? Who is your favorite character?

Look forward to hearing what my readers have to say.