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By Alyssa, November 10, 2009 8:32 pm

I love that more businesses are supporting veterans, especially those that are including National Guard and Reserve members. Here is a list of national free meals and deals I researched for tomorrow, Veteran’s Day.  Go to the link for specific details. Most of these apply to veterans and current military members.

Meals:

- Applebees- Free Entree, 11 November 2009

- Golden Corral- Free Dinner for Veterans and Military, 16 November 2009

- Krispy Kreme- Free Donut, 11 November 2009

- Outback Steakhouse: Free Bloomin’ Onion and Beverage, 11 November 2009

Deals:

- Home Depot- 10% Discount until 11 November 2009

- Lowes- 10% Discount until 11 November 2009

Please comment if you have found any other freebies or discounts for tomorrow.  I’ll provide an update later with Denver specific discounts since Hubby is getting annoyed that I consistently ask the same businesses if they give military discounts.  I can be embarrassingly thrifty.

Oh and don’t forget to thank a veteran tomorrow.  I love talking to those older gentlemen with their puffy veteran ball caps.  Shoot, if they look friendly enough, give them a hug.  Nothing like making some old vet’s day!

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By Alyssa, November 9, 2009 5:06 pm

Our Basement Forest

I don’t camp.  I’ve had enough sleeping on the ground in the Army to be O.K. with not sleeping on the ground for fun.  Of course, because I’m not a camping fan, I’ve been blessed with a little boy that loves camping.  We’ve taken him twice in his life and it is all he talks about.  Dirt, fires, marshmallows… it’s boy heaven!  To appease my three now four year old (Insert sob here. Still not admitting he’s that old), we planned a camping themed party for him this year.  Well, to be truthful, I told Bubba the $300 Bounce House was out and asked what he would love to do for his birthday instead.  His answer of course, camping.

I planned for a typical Denver morning in November and decided to convert our unfinished basement into a campsite.  Surprisingly, this was an easy task that cost me about $20 in decorations. First, I laid a bunch of old moving blankets on the ground and set up our tent with sleeping bags inside.  I used cardboard boxes to wrap any pipes or metal we had and drew on the cardboard to make it look like tree trunks.  Green plastic table clothes became foliage and a barrier from the furnace and water heater.

Bear Hunting

Finally, I laid a blue tarp in the corner for our “lake” and hung cardboard stars and Christmas lights for our sky.  It turned out so well I think I’m going to leave it up so we can camp all winter long.

I tried to think of easy games for a range of ages since we had friends coming with siblings.  When all the kids arrived, I took them on a “bear hunt” around our cul-de-sac and finished the hunt in the basement where they fed a cardboard bear some “fish” (mini-packets of Swedish Fish).  We played musical “rocks” and told bear stories in the tent before finishing off game-time with races outside.

Mmmm. S'mores.

The weather cooperated for hot dogs and mac-n-cheese served picnic style on the front lawn and at the end of the party we roasted marshmallows in our driveway on a borrowed a fire pit. Twenty (Yep, twenty.  I’m crazy.) happy preschoolers left with paper bags of trail mix and plastic baggies of s’mores for the road.

I’m happy that Bubba had a blast, no-one made fun of my horribly disproportionate bear, and we combined kids and fire without calling the E.R.  Also doesn’t hurt that the two hour party only cost me about $100 including the food for over thirty attendees.  Guess we’ll keep having parties at home until I run out ideas for things you can make out of cardboard.  P.S. Hope you enjoy the last picture.  Yes, that is a tiny rubber duckie floating in the lake and no laughing at the bear!

The Bear... grrrr.

Comments (4)

By Alyssa, November 4, 2009 9:23 pm

Here’s what a regular phone call looks like when I’m at home calling Hubby at work.

Me: Hey, wanted to remind you that… BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH… (blahing goes on for a couple more minutes)

Hubby: Uh-huh.

Me: Do you think you could pick up… BLAH BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH… (blahing goes on for a bit more before I forget what I’m talking about and then spend five minutes or so getting back on topic)

Hubby:  O.K.

Me: Well, thanks, honey.  Oh, and the funniest thing happened when I… BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, (Insert long, drawn out story)  Gotta go.  Love you!

Hubby: Uh-huh.  Love you.

Now here is how the phone call went when I called Hubby from my Army National Guard drill today.  I usually don’t work weekends, but they let me make an exception for the 4-year-old birthday extravaganza I have planned this weekend (more on that later).

Me: Hey, hon.  How’d it go today?

Hubby: Good.  I got that stuff done we talked about.

Me: Sweet. Want me to text you when I’m ready?

Hubby: Sure.

Me: Great.  Talk to you later.

Hmmm.  See any difference?  I didn’t really notice anything until I was driving home with Hubby today (Oh, by the way, Grandma’s in town.  I know you thought I left the boys with our chocolate lab for the day). Stuck in Denver traffic, Hubby looked over and chided me, “You’re talking like a guy again.” What?  If it hadn’t been for that cute look on his face, he might have been in trouble for that one. “I’d forgotten,” he said, “because it’s been so long since I’ve had to call you at your unit.  You talk to me completely differently when you’re in uniform.”

I thought about it for a second and chuckled a little.  He was right.  I’d never really put my finger on it, but in uniform, I communicate completely differently.  I think it started with one of my first bosses.  He would only listen to the first dozen words out of my mouth before interrupting, “And your point?”  He was the extreme, but, in the process of eight years in the military, I’ve learned how to man-talk.

Man-talk.  Here’s my secret, ladies.  It’s definitely not rocket science and you can tell from my regular conversations with Hubby, I don’t use it all of the time.  First man-talk secret: I think about everything I’m going to say before I say it.  Crazy?  If you know me very well, you’d know that most of the time I blab whatever hits my lips far before it’s meandered up to my brain.  Most of the guys I’ve worked with want a one-line-answer which made me learn the art of concise responses.

Second key to man-talk: DON’T TALK.  Unlike talking with my girlfriends, dudes don’t really care about the details and don’t need to know the nitty-gritty. You may laugh at me, but when I’m with a bunch of Army guys, half the time I’m telling my brain, “Shut-up. Shut-up. Shut-up.”  This technique has saved me from saying a lot of very stupid things.  It’s completely contrary to my nature not to want to add to the conversation, but the more you are with a bunch of guys you realize that they don’t really talk at the same time like women do.

So there you have it.  Man-talk is pretty much keeping things down to five words or less and thinking everything through.  Pretty boring if you ask me.  I think men really miss out on woman-talk.  You know. Everyone talking at the same time, louder and louder, not sure what we are talking about, but loving every minute of it.  Army man-talk works for me when I’m outnumbered ten dudes to one, but I much prefer the no-point, convoluted conversations that I submit to Hubby on a daily basis.  I’m pretty lucky really.  I live with a guy that knows I can man-talk, but let’s me blah, blah, blah as much as I want to.  Thanks, Hubby.