You must be an AnySoldier Junkie if...

Anonymous — Wed, 30 May 2007 09:42:29 GMT

When I got home today, the contractor who is remodeling my guest bath was waiting for me. So was a package with a Nordstrom logo on it. I had taken advantage of Mother's Day sales to stock up on a rather pricey skin care product that I like.

When I saw the package, my face lit up. Seeing my reaction, the contractor remarked that there must be something pretty special in that box! I had to laugh. What made my face light up was not the skin care product, but the box....it was just the size I'd been searching for to mail some items to a soldier!

You must be an AnySoldier Junkie if............

Mary — Sun, 02 Dec 2007 17:55:15 GMT

You take your new SUV (Guaranteed to travel the roads well) to the nearest big city (Madison, WI) to finally get the stuff to send goody bags to my adopted groups. The MidWest - including Wisconsin - underwent quite a mess yesterday. Snow, sleet, rain all covering a thick sheet of ice on the roads. Couldn't see a foot ahead of the car. Didn't believe the reports so wore slip on shoes - no boots, left them home. Denies extra discount for my soldiers at Target by my boss - but oh well. I did get my usual whopping 10% off anyway. The car - 2007 Chevy Equinox - is not worth the price - don't buy one. I was all over the road. Didn't have 4-wheel drive. Bought it because I desperately needed a new one, thought the color was fantastic and the car was "cute". Sometimes I can be a real airhead. Pulled into McDonalds for lunch and used my cellphone to call the Chevy Corporate Hot Line and blasted the poor woman about what a horrible car I had. She suggested I call on Monday when there might be a service Tech who could help me. Geez!!! But I got all the stuff, got home safe and sound and spent most of last night and all day today packing, packing, packing. Each has a nice goody bag. I put a Thank you Note - Pre-written with an appropriate response from a soldier and pre-addressed the envelopes with the names of friends and family to put into each bag - in hopes they would send off the Thank You to the people who will NOT be getting any other gift from me. This is their Christmas gift - making a soldier smile. What more could they ask?

Now all I have to do is get back outside and see if I can get our used snow blower to cut through the ice and snow. But I got the IMPORTANT STUFF done. The boxes will be in the mail tomorrow morning. HOORAY.

OH YES - I got my calendar yesterday, signed by both Marty and Brian along with a new patch to iron on the front of my coat - I look like a walking sign board for AnySoldier. I e-mailed Support at AS to thank them for the calendar and signing it and Brian sent me a nice note back. I copied it and taped it to my wall of honor by my computer.

Have a Happy Holiday Junkies

Mary

You must be a AnySoldier junkie if...

Kaitlin07 — Wed, 01 Aug 2007 04:25:19 GMT

you should be applying to college for this fall (long story why i didnt apply during my school year...short answer- many health problems) but instead you're applying for a new contacts address.

I plan on running my butt down to the local community college tomorrow before i work at 1pm and hand delivering my application. If i get up in time.I'm praying i get accepted or i got to pay my parent board to live in the house. So i'm going to fill this box and fill out the customs form and address label real fast and i'm going to bed. Good night ya'll!!

You know youre a junkie when....

Armymom2 — Sun, 29 Jul 2007 16:15:33 GMT

You know youre a junkie when the people at the Post Office see you and address you by name and ask if you want the usual (like in a bar) and go get your boxes, labels, customs forms and a roll of tape for you. They smile and tell you to be careful on the way home! :)

You know you're an AnySoldier junkie when...

wileywmson — Sun, 12 Aug 2007 05:09:57 GMT

I just got a raise at work and took the time to figure out how many extra packages I could send out each month with that "found" money!

Also, I was quite proud of myself that when shopping at BigLots for school supplies for my kids, I found packages of stationery for 88 cents each and bought everything they had on the shelf.

Any Soldier Kid Junkies

mrsnorthcarolina — Fri, 10 Aug 2007 17:27:22 GMT

I had to share this! My girls are *playing school* in their room with their dolls, stuffed animals, and their little brothers. I just checked to find they are having English right now and all are having to write Dear Soldier letters for their assignment. Then I hear my 7 year old tell her *students*; "No! You can't have snack food off the shelf, because that is going to Iraq to the soldiers!".

I have to laugh! I think you can officially call us Any Soldier Family Junkies!

You must be an AnySoldier Junkie if

tessajangel — Fri, 03 Aug 2007 04:23:24 GMT

You remember to pack your laptop, digital camera,cd's to burn picks on. You choose the only hotel in Ashland Oregon that has wireless. You do this for the soul purpose of staying in touch with your guys, and making sure they have a great movie of the picks you take while on a road trip with the kids. I am a JUNKIE!!

By the way, I forgot all our toothbrushes, toothpaste, sunscreen, and my little son's shoes.

GOOD JUNKIE! BAD MOMMY!! Oh, I forgot the husband at home too. I did remember to leave out the paint and brushes and rollers. GOOD WIFE!!

You know you're an anysoldier junkie....

Krewe Captain — Mon, 23 Jul 2007 00:59:21 GMT

If your phone rings and it's your contact calling fro Baghdad.........yeah!!!!

You must be an AnySoldier Junkie if you....

Kathie — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 21:47:26 GMT

.... bring your Priority Flat Rate boxes with you shopping, to make sure everything fits just right!

You Must be an AnySoldier Junkie if....

Ventigirl — Tue, 26 Jun 2007 16:47:19 GMT

I just started reading these posts and I find that there are more of us out there than I thought. I've been sending care packages and letters of support for 2 1/2 years and I'm the only one around my friends who does anything like that, so felt a little alone out there. The shopping, the boxes of items, the time spent looking for the unit I want to send to, packing and mailing them every week. I'm glad to know there are so many great supporters!

My extra bedroom is my computer, storing and packing room, and when anyone comes to visit, I have to figure where to put everything. And the time spent shopping? You all know the score there. I know the best places to find the best deals on what I need, and always looking for new items.

One thing I found recently are cool ties that I order from IndustrialSafetyGear.com (1-888-475-5999). The guy explained that I could get a military discount because I was sending them to the troops, and I can buy them for $1.40 each, which is amazing. I buy the khaki color only and send a couple in a ziploc bag in every pkg this time of year. I used to buy them at WalMart but they went up to $2.98 or more this year, so I wasn't sure I wanted to spend that.

I'd be interested in any other great ideas from you guys.

You must be an AnySoldier Junkie If... (July 4th version)

Anonymous — Wed, 27 Jun 2007 02:57:54 GMT

Started this thread for reports about what each of us is planning to do to support our soldiers and/or AnySoldier.com on July 4th. Here's my plan:

Our neighborhood has a little parade for the kids every Fourth of July, combined with a sort of carnival with various things for the kids to do. A big favorite is for the kids to decorate their bikes, then ride them in the parade. Our neighborhood has its own volunteer fire department (best in the county, if I say so myself!) and they always roll out the fire trucks, too. It's a nice little neighborhood celebration.

I'm going to be manning a table where the kids can write letters to soldiers. I will also have AnySoldier.com flyers to hand out, of course!

AS Junkie

ann — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 11:42:53 GMT

When your husband comes home from the tobacco store with an extra pack of cigars for your Marines !!

And he did it like it was perfectly natural!!

Going to tour the USS Ling this weekend. Maybe I can pick up some things for my contacts there.

I've only been doing this a few months and I can no longer use my dining room table for anything but packing boxes and filling out forms!

I carry an extra set of boxes in the back of my car in case I need to bring one into a store to make sure something fits for shipping.

Food packages on my grocery shelves somehow end up in AS boxes.

ann

junkie

iwojimaseabee — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 03:44:44 GMT

You know you are a " junkie" if you start to compare weights of packages sent

and see just how much you can cram into one of those set rate boxes!!

My personal best was 10 lbs!!

A call to the Junkies for Carlos Acostacastro!

Mead — Fri, 06 Jul 2007 01:19:05 GMT

Somewhere in the forums, I found an original post by Carlos Acostacastro trying to win coffee from Folgers for 2 years from his unit. I cannot, for the life of me, re-find that post!! So, :) I post here. Hugs...please don't beat the normally-lurking woman up? :)

The contest really counts between July 2 through July 16. I see several of us have already voted for him, but he's 1,000 votes behind the lead! :( Don't forget you can vote every single day! 1,000 isn't that much! This site is covered in supporters! We can do this for him!!

He asked that we just follow the link to folgers below and vote for the one called HOOAH 2 FOLGERS. It'll ask for your email address. You do then have to go to your email address and click to confirm your vote.

http://apps.folgers.com/testimonials/stories_vote.php