Dear Readers ~ Spring 2011

Image by: SixthandMain

Dear Readers,
Thank you each for reading along and to those of you that leave your thoughts in a comment form! Sometimes I end up taking on more than I can juggle, ok, so I do this all the time!!! But lately I have taken a bit more into my "Things To Do" list than humanly possible. Something just has to give. So what I am getting to? I need to prioritize my list, and this blog will need to take a little break, so that I can focus on the items to the top of the list and stop feeling guilty that I haven't re typed one of MaryJanes and I's letters. What you might not know is that since MaryJanes and her husband sold their house, they along with their three beautiful, sweet, adorable...lol..ok, you get it, children have moved into a portion of our house. When I say "a portion", by no means envision a big house! They had to be creative when this all took shape. They own a beautiful piece of land, but with this economy, who can afford to build a home while living on one income and raising three children?? { I should note that MJ, does substitute teach and generates what she is able while raising their three children. Along with that she sews them cute outfits, and continually exposes herself to The Arts and teaches herself new crafts and techniques.} You can read all about them on her blog MaryJanesandgaloshes.

I am self employed, as well as my husband is, so we both need self discipline, something I lack! I love it when the little ones knock on the door and I see their excited faces gleaming to see me several times a day..but this does leave me with less time to do the things I need to do. Don't get me wrong, I am well aware of the importance of my grandchildren and give them a huge amount of my time every day. Then comes along a chance for MJ's and I to sneak away for a weekend outing....and WE MUST GO...we must plan, pack and travel! She is a great traveling companion! {this weekend we are heading to ChapelByTheSpring to catch up with our friend, Kym as well as have a meeting of the minds for upcoming Creative Outlet Classes we hope to get start hosting. Classes will be full days, even over night options, with catered meals and snacks by Kym, classes taught by MJ and hosted by me.
And if you only knew the other list of creative ideas that we hold in the future...I will need to live to be 127 years old to achieve them all!

I am an antique dealer, and so there is inventory to purchase, clean, tag and then assign and deliver to which ever location that item will suit best. Along with that, I some times get called to drive Amish here and there, which is most always a fun outing as they LOVE thrift shops!! Then on the days that MJ gets called to sub, I take care of the three little ones.
Then each year at this time my husband and I attempt a big garden, and with the price of groceries right now, this year MUST be a success! Then the chicken coop needs to be prepared for a new flock of baby chicks, and then there are the 2 baby goats coming shortly. Next comes Our yearly Fun, Funky, Festive yard sale over Memorial day weekend....this is huge and takes allot of prep time. Add to this.....MJ and I are vending at JunkBonanza this September 15th, 16th & 17th..YEAH!!! Our first time in participating in this huge show...and thanks to Linda Of ItsyBitsandPieces we will be in the Tent Room instead of the Newbies room! {Thanks Linda!}
To the mix, my etsy shop, SommersBreezeAntique needs lisitings...soooo...
I have to put the full hat box of letters away for a spell, and pick them back up when I do a catch up!!!
I do thank you for understanding.

A note to each of you.......
Now Get Outside and Garden!
~Galoshes

Dear MaryJanes June 23rd

Image By: SilverHorsePhotography

Sent a cute card.
Outside of card:
Picture of a little girl on the beach letting her big dog share her ice cream cone
Inside Card:
Everything is better when shared with a friend!


Letter inside card:
MJ, Im at leo's waiting for my appointment. I think my roots are nearing 2 inches. I stopped at Grandmas house & it was hard not to tell her about Jenny! Then I stopped at Sam's daycare to give Jenn a congrats card and see her ring. She is so excited & her ring is beautiful. She couldn't stop smiling. By the way - Im sure you'll graduate! Love Mom
PS: I am glad that you have new friends to help you through this!

Dear MaryJanes June 23rd

Inside Card Reads,
"....but my butt's too big for the mailbox"

I love you, Galoshes.

Friday 6/23 PM

MaryJanes,
I got your letter about being told, "Before I kill you" and it made me extremely mad. I paged Augie to see if the three topics were standard in order to break you down.
#1 No toilet paper
#2 Lack of showers
#3 "Kill you"
He said "No" and that he couldn't do anything about it until Monday, but I was to page him on Monday at 8:30 am. I told him your first letters were the normal, "it's hard, but Im doing my best"but that this letter was different. He said somethings not right there and he will start the process to have it looked into but that the people he would contact are not available till Monday. It will be a damn hard weekend. I called a woman named Jenny that is a friend of Mikes. She was in basic 10 years ago. She hated it and said that she cried every time she called home. Also that she got punched in the mouth by a Sargent {fat lip} They cant do that anymore. If any Sargent punches you , I'll be all over someone! She thinks they can still shove you to the ground?? I told Augie I couldn't tell some one I was going to kill them, and I didn't think they could say that as its illegal for me. I said it shouldn't have been done. Hold On, I m doing what I can to change the conditions. I hate that I can't protect you. I feel like my stomach is being ripped out. Mike is doing his best to comfort me. When you pray, pray for strength to endure. It's not going to get easier mentally or physically but you can pray for strength to get through. I don't know what to do, I feel so helpless.
I saw Erin H. today. I went into the Windsor McDonalds, she was working. I gave her your address and asked her to write you. I asked that Jenny [mikes friend] if she wished someone would have pulled her out of basic. She said When she was there [New Orleans I think} she would have walked home if she could have. But, looking back, she is glad she did it. She did hate it though.She tells everyone to join the air force and to avoid the army. She said they make all kinds of promises and don't follow through. They lie and use you r $ for "things." Don't worry about the money part, sounds like they screw ya with that. I will make sure your car insurance is covered. It will be okay/ Mike is helping Brad load and unload wood at the campground.
I hope my letters help. I hope they give you some sanity in the insane place you are in. "Jenny" said that allot of girls start fighting. WALK AWAY!! Don't fight! Keep your temper in check. Breathe through the temptation to strike back. Close your eyes and think calming thoughts. I will help you through this as best as I can. It's mostly 99% up to you. Think positive. You might need to get tough on the Johnson girl. I am sorry that you have to have that weight to bear! Keep me posted on how you are doing. Jenny said that the lack of TP & showers was all part of bringing you down. I will send TP w/ every letter.
I Love You!
Galoshes

From MJ 6/22

Becky and MaryJanes modeling (just some of) the gear we had to march with

Galoshes,

I just got 3 of your letters. I don't have to have push-ups for the address and although you did have the address wrong, I still got it. I started to cry in front of everyone when I read how you cry. I miss you so much. This place is alright. I'm really excited to come home.

So dad bought a fourth air plane? How many people does it hold? I wish someone would come get me right now. This isn't worth it.


MaryJanes

(in the same letter)
June 23, 2000
Hey mom,
I'm in bed again. I have fire guard tonight which will give me more time to write, but I miss you so much I can't sleep.

How did you get pulled into planning the shower. Tell David and Kari that I wish I could be there, Kari will make a beautiful bride.

Ryan doesn't really have a pot problem, but he does smoke it. I guess it's better that he does that than some of the other drugs those guys have gotten into.

I feel like I have been gone forever. But I guess tomorrow will be 20 days since I left home. But basic training time has only been 2 and a half weeks.

I do get to see Holly quite a bit. We shined boots together, still go to church together. Becky and I have become good friends although Holly and I click better.

People here are dropping like flies. I found out today that despite my original thoughts we were put in the hardest, strictest company at Fort Jackson. I knew the infantry division was tough, but compared to the other companies where they do what they want basically when they want, we have it so strict.

Yesterday the drill sergeants came into our barracks and tore apart beds and lockers. My locker had a lock on it so it was in tact and surprisingly my bed was one of the 4 not torn apart.

Today we started with the M16A2 rifle. We took it apart, put it together, learned motions with it. We are going to go to the range next week. I was the fastest female taking mine apart. Second fastest putting it together because I got ahead of myself and had to undo half of it.

Tomorrow we start bayonet training, the old gun/sword things. I don't know why but they feel we need to know how to use them.

That's cool that Jenn might come down here with you. Renting a car sounds good to me. Then maybe I can see some of this state since I've always wanted to visit it. Plus then we can have music which I miss so much.

I'm excited to see if Rusty missed me when I get home. I remember when Bear would be so happy to see me after I was gone a few days.

My drill sergeant (the nice one) looks so much like David (my cousin) it's scary. But he is more Native American than David is. But he reminds me a lot of him.

I'm glad to hear your drugs (st. Johns wort) are helping you cope. Although I am not missing or being molested by a 53 year old man I was warned by my drill sergeant that some other drill sergeants in the other companies are trying to and have been sleeping with privates.

That sample of 5th avenue Elizabeth Arden perfume was so good! It was nice to smell something other than sweat and cleaning supplies.

I haven't lost any noticeable weight yet I don't think. I hope I do or I will be so disappointed.

I got 5 letters from you today. You have no idea how much they help me. Getting mail every day is very important. You should be getting a letter every day from me, I write just about every night. But I'm going to sleep a little before fireguard. I will write then....

Man I love being woken up in the middle of the night to sit in a desk for an hour and a half watching everyone else sleeps.

Johnson, the girl I have to freaking baby sit, is on fire guard with me. I had to wake her up 3 times, the last time being rude, to get her to get up and change. Yesterday I had to dress her, do her hair, and make her bed. what a pain. She can be such an airhead when it comes to common sense too.

I miss driving so much. I can't wait to get my car back. We have to run today. When we tested on the 2 mile run to see what group we are in I got the D group. My drill sergeant wasn't very happy, there is like 10 of us in that group and he said we all have to be in C group by 2 and a half weeks.

I'm so hungry. I can't stand having 2-3 minutes to eat. We shovel everything in so fast you can't even tell your full until ten minutes later. Then your only full for like a half an hour and your hungry again.

A huge cockroach just ran across the floor. NASTY! Johnson is trying to kill it by dropping a flip flop on it but it's a little faster than she is.

Yes I remember the Coyote Ugly movie preview. I can't wait to see it. I felt like going to a movie so much yesterday.

You have some interesting stamps. Every day people ask to look at them because there is always something funny. Some people who haven't gotten one letter yet have requested that you adopt them or ask if they can write to you. But I know I'm the only one special enough to have the worlds greatest mother and the others here just have to realize that :)

The one thing I do like here is they constantly tell us that we are adults and need to act like it, which I personally do, but that if we are grown enough to join the army we are adults. It's a nice change from my high school teachers.

I miss Marvin too (the cat). he was always in my room with me, even though sometimes he got in the way.

Tommy hasn't written me yet. But I had to mail him my address so he may have just gotten it.

I'm pretty sure I mailed it to Lee'Ann (my best friend at the time), but not positive so I guess if she called you for it she hasn't gotten it yet. But I have half a letter around here somewhere waiting to be finished to her so it might be in that one.

I have to do my socks and underwear laundry on Sunday. I haven't gotten a chance yet because of church, but I'm going to keep going to church here so I will just have to find time. I have lots of clean undies yet, but I need to wash my white socks.

They never gave us phone rights on father's day. I thought that was pretty shitty but I guess there's not much I can do about it. Hopefully I will get to call tomorrow. The mean drill sergeants going until Tuesday so maybe.

I'm so hungry! They make everyone with packages open them in front of everyone so we don't get anything we aren't supposed to have. You should mail me socks with snickers inside them. No, I'm just kidding. It sounds so good though!

We have the best muffins at breakfast. It's the thing I will miss about this hell hole. They are Sarah Lee premium bran muffins. They are SO good. I crave them allot here.

You should see me polish my boots, what a mess. I get polish all over myself. But I can get them pretty shiny.

Well I have cleaning to do so I will see you tomorrow.

Love always and forever
Maryjanes

P.S. nick names I have acquired-
Dairy Princess- the guys in my platoon
TJ- same
JJ- My drill sergeant
Swiss Miss (like the girl on the hot chocolate packages)- the Lieutenant

P.P.S. Did I tell you I miss you? Well I do, a ton.

PPPS I love you!

PPPPS I want to come home :(

PPPPPS I'll be fine.

KEEP WRITING!

Dear MaryJanes June 21st

Image by: selenavallejo

MaryJanes,

GUESS WHAT?
Jenn got a ring last night!

I just got your letters today and of coarse I cried through both of them! I was glad to hear you more up-beat. I was esp. glad to hear you are making the extra effort to go to church. I hope it gives you extra strength. Mike sends a "Hello" He keeps me assures that you'll do great. I don't know how I'd get through this w/out his support. He senses when I am getting depressed and gives me a hug and says "She is strong, she'll do great" Its the words I need to hear that he comforts me with. I called and left a message w/ Grandpa & Grandpa Johnson. I asked if it would be possible for them to make it and that it seemed important to you. I told them I would call again about it. I went to an auction this morning but it wasn't very good so I went to Columbus to straighten up my booths.
Good luck w/ your "sister" I hope she can follow in your foot steps. You act surprised that the guys are interested in you. You are SO FUNNY! You silly girl. You don't need make up, hair style or tight clothes to show your light. You glow with out any of that. Your personality sparkles silly! You're just a guy magnet! Im going over to grandma Greenes then I have a hair appointment. {changed to 6 pm rather than 8}The work on 44 is nearly done. Jenn said her ring is beautiful. I can't wait to see it! She called just when I got done reading your letters. Perfect timing!
Bear has to wear diapers now :sigh: I was thinking of putting her to sleep cause she is leaking urine daily now. Mike asked me to buy depends. So now she is "Diaper Dog" {new name}
I cut a tail hole out. Im glad you get to see Holly a little, that makes me feel better. Do your best with your "little sister"You'll be a big help to her. Sounds like allot of extra work 4U! Glad to hear of your plan for pull ups! I feel better about that now. And your plan to still use arm strength is good. 2 MILES YUGH!
How are you doing in the heat? Can I send you sun glasses? Are you getting mail every day? Why did they have you spend that much $? On what? Sounds stupid to me.I think about you all the time. Be Strong...Think Positive! I CAN I WILL! Go - Go _ Go!
Thank you for the letters. I love you with all of my heart.
Galoshes

Dear MaryJanes June 21st

Inside card is hand written

MaryJanes,
Just looking out for you.
Love, Galoshes

The card along with others still contain the folded up toilet paper I sent her!

Dear MaryJanes June 21st

June 21 Wednesday

MaryJanes
Hi,
No letters yet, :Sigh:
We are waiting for a pizza to cook - nothing eventful today. Im concerned about you and need to know that you are better since your last call. Did you mail your address to Lily? Mike and I are going to Kirby's afterwards to pick up something to sell for him. Tomorrow Iam going to Columbus first thing in the morning then to an auction at 11am. I have a hair appointment to have my roots done at 8pm. Army forms for you to sign came today. I'll call them to see if they can wait until you get back or if I have to send then to you.

back from Kirby's

Brenda just called, she and Tina will come to the bridal shower Sunday, but will be late. John is going to be marching in a band at noon. I talked to Matt about his goat. He is sure happy about it! Iam halfway watching a show called "True Women" I hope you are being strong like a few of these women on the show. I think about you always and pray that you are Ok.
Fighting back the tears cause I miss you so!
Love, Galoshes