Happy Veteran's Day!

Wanted to express my gratitude to those who have served and sacrificed for our country in the armed forces-- I could never say it enough, and will never forget it. Thank you for your service.

Happy Independence Day!

Land of the free and home of the brave! And, as my husband pointed out this morning--land of the free because of the brave--thanks to all who defend and uphold our freedom!

Remembering with gratitude

On Memorial Day we take the family out to see family gravesites. This year we also asked our children to locate at least two graves of veterans. This wasn't difficult, as it is a tradition here (and I imagine many other places) to put flags on the graves of veterans. In the past few years we have made it a tradition to place a plant or flowers on the grave of a veteran near one of our family member's gravesites. We never met him, but we are grateful for his service nevertheless.

And if you are serving or have served in the military, or are the family of someone who has, we are grateful for your service as well.

Thank you.

Thank you

Thank you to all the brave men and women who serve/have served in the armed forces and their families.

Happy Veteran's Day!

Remember making some noise? Thank you.

Had to share this excerpt from a letter I received from Senator Risch today (I hope he doesn't mind me quoting from it):

"When President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2010 Budget in February, one of his revenue-raising proposals aimed to restructure Tricare For Life (TFL). Right now, TFL allows military retirees to receive health care at no cost to them for life. The President's proposal would have initiated a TFL cost-sharing arrangement in which military retirees over 65 would be forced to pay for large portions of their health care.

In response, Congressman Chet Edwards of Texas introduced H.R. 816. After a constructive dialogue with Congress, President Obama decided to drop his budget proposal to restructure TFL. Therefore, at this time, H.R. 816 is not necessary. Should this issue arise again and come before the United States Senate, I will be sure to take your thoughts into consideration."

So, for now, there is no plan to increase out of pocket health care expenses for the military, an issue I wrote about in this post. My sincere thanks to Senator Risch for letting me know about this, and to each of you who let your voices be heard--as I mentioned in my earlier post, this issue would affect those I know personally. And thanks as always to those who have served/are serving our country in the military--- I'm very glad that your healthcare benefits will remain unchanged.

Since I doubt they read my blog, I now need to e-mail thank yous to Senator Risch, and Congressman Chet Edwards, who, according to this article, introduced the above-mentioned H.R. 816, entitled "Military Retirees' Healthcare Protection Act." Glad it was there if it had been necessary.

Hope this never becomes an issue again, but if it does, we'll just have to make some more noise in an effort to support our military. Thanks again to those of you who contacted your representatives and/or others....for the military, it's a show of support. No increase in out-of- pocket healthcare costs is an important promise kept.

Making some noise--for the U.S. Military

Note: This is a little bit of a departure from my usual preparedness post. I still think it applies to emergency preparedness, however, because if there is anything we can do to help others to be in a better situation either health-wise or financially, the better off we will all be if/when a crisis arises. If military personnel, who, as I understand it, do not have the highest payscale around anyway, had to choose between health care and food or other necessities as a result of a cut in benefits, it would be harder for those who wished to do so to prepare for future emergencies. Those who can now take advantage of preventative health care options would no longer be able to do so, which could in turn lead to more problems and even emergencies health-wise and financially. The more people that are prepared for an emergency, the more we all benefit... That said, here's the post:


Not too long ago I was in attendance while a bagpipe ensemble, complete with drums, was performing. After the music had ended, one of my children said to one of the musicians something along the lines of, "Who thought up something that could make such a horrible noise?" Obviously, this child was not a huge fan of bagpipe music. If you had been there, it probably would have been equally obvious that this question made me uncomfortable.....but the musician's reply made a lasting impression on me.

Turns out, according to what he said, that the bagpipe is the only instrument that has been officially declared a weapon of war. If I recall correctly, he said that we owed part of our country to the playing of the bagpipes, because in one area, the French were scared off and left the region because the Scottish and Irish got so riled up when the bagpipes were played that it frightened the opposing army off. (My apologies if the exact details are off, but the point as it came across to me remains the same.) I think I asked if it was the actual music that caused such a reaction, and from what I understood, it was because it was such a call to the people that the bagpipe was such a dangerous weapon--the people united behind the bagpipe's call, and it had a tremendous effect.

I recently received an e-mail that I found deeply disturbing about a proposal to cut healthcare benefits and increase out-of-pocket health care costs for those who have served/are serving in the U.S. military. You can learn more about what is being proposed here. I do have blood ties to military personnel, back through multiple wars, as well as more recently, so it is likely that I would see the effects of such measures on people that I know personally. However, I don't think that I would feel any differently about such measures even if that weren't the case, because there is no question that as an American, I have felt the benefits of the work of those who have served our country. And I think that there is a way that we can stand up for our servicemen and servicewomen as they have stood up for us and the things that we believe in---by making a lot of "horrible noise" when their promised benefits are threatened. No, I'm not suggesting the bagpipes. I'm talking about more about e-mails, phone calls, and letters to those who represent us and our military personnel, asking them to reject any attempts to cut back on or cut out promised military health care benefits. They need our support now, and we need to make a lot of noise. A lot of noise on this subject would, I do not doubt, have a tremendous effect. Here is what I am planning to send:

It has come to my attention that the Congressional Budget office has made a recommendation to eliminate the program TriCare for Life. I am writing to ask you to reject any proposals and/or legislation that would result in higher out-of-pocket health care costs for U.S. military personnel. Those who have served our country, regardless of status--active, retired, veterans--deserve both our support and their promised health care benefits.

Thank you for your time in this matter.


I'm going to write to elected officials from Idaho and elsewhere. I realize that this blog may be read by those not affected by such legislation (who are probably not still reading... :) and by those who are against policies and actions and other military maneuvers that the U.S. has made. I'm not talking about policies or actions or military maneuvers. I am talking about people who answered the call to serve our country, and in many cases put their lives on the line for our freedoms. Freedom is not free, and it is not bipartisan. This is not a political post nor blog, but it is an American one. If you want to join me in thanking our military for standing up for us with their lives, I can think of no better way than standing up for them with our voices...

U. S. Senate

U. S. House of Representatives



Let's go make some noise---a lot of it.