Day 9 - Catching up

So I know it has been a while since I have posted! I have been a busy little bee! We have a lot to discuss; there is the Wii Active, the calendar and the book.

Wii Active - I really can only do the Wii Active durnig the week. I work full-time and hubby is deployed so the only time I really have to do anything is after work. I get off from work at 1630 and go to my friends house to do the Active and then I go pick up my daughter at 1800. So needless to say that my schedule is off from everyone else's even though I did start on June 1 like everyone else did. So, so far it has really worked me. I HATE the running! I was never a runner. I think I can actually walk faster than I can run. My favorite is anything sports related! I especially like tennis. I think I could really tome up and lose weight if I could just get my eating on track. During the week I usually make myself a smoothie or I will go and buy one here at a local place (along with a blueberry bagel w/butter) and for lunch 8 times out of 10 I will get Subway. I do slip on occasion, but I'm only human! During the week I usually don't eat much, if anything at all. I recall eating 4 string cheese and some water with Crystal Light, or a couple, ok, several handfuls of dry cerealand a few root beers. My schedule weeknights don't allow for eating. I come home aroun 1830 - 2000 depending on if I need to go to the store or an FRG meeting, I then feed Shannon and let her play for a bit while I clean up something. I TRY and clean up after myself during the week but most of the time I only wash out her bottles. Then around 2000-2100 I give Shannon a bottle while twittering or checking email or going on facebook. Once she is asleep I put her in her crib and take the lap top with me to bed and I am usually on til about 2300. So as you can see, I have my priorities messed up but it works for me!

The Calendar - As most of you know, and for those of you that don't, I did a pin up photo shoot with a local photographer to send to the hubby. I LOVED it! I didn't think I would because I don't feel I am where I need to be for those kinds of pics (I feel those kind of pics are a privlege, NOT a right, like spandex and bikinis). Anyways, so after I had them done I had someone on twitter ask me who sponsored me to get the pics done?! SPONSORED?? I guess the Army since I payed for them myself. This conversation led to an idea. What if I put together a calendar of Army wives in the classic pin-up poses and sell them. The proceeds could go to a non-profit that supports our troops, a way for us wives to support those that support our husbands. I put it out there to my twitter friends (you know who you are) and everyone loved the idea! After I started getting messages that people would buy it (still not sure if they were serious or being nice) I decided I would try and get er done! So a week into this process I have talked to the same photographer that did my pics (also an Army wife) and she is on board to do them at a discounted rate. She is going to get with her hair and makeup gals to see if they would be interested. I put an ad on craigslist asking for Army wives that would like to participate and got an overwhelming response! Now I am just waiting until the photographer to come back from vacation (he hubby just got back from Iraq) and we will discuss details. I will also be asking my aunt, a seamstress in AZ, if she would donate/discount her time and skills to make the outfits. I have also decided that when someone purchases a calendar they will get to decide which non-profit they would like their money to go to. Now I am going to be realistic, not ALL the money will go to the non-profit, we will have some go to the NP and some stay so we can crank out more calendars. Now, I know it's not all about the Army (DeltaWhiskey1), so I thought that I would "test" it out with Army wives first and if it sells, I will do one with every branch of the military! I have my fingers crossed!

The Book - I'm not quite sure that I put this out there, but I am "working" for the new Army Wife Magazine (launching in the Fall 2009), I will be "reporting" here from Fort Drum about things going on here and in the outside community as well as doing an advice column called "Letters to Limerick". The person responsible for putting the magazine together is also going to be putting a book together. It will be letters of encouragement and advice from Army wives to Army wives. There will be many chapters like Deployment (before, during and after), Finance, Dealing With Loss and Education. I am one that gets the letters, reads them and determines what section it should fall under and if it should be included. I think it will be GREAT! It's basically a book of other Army wives saying "I wish I knew about this....." or "When I was dealing with this I found this helpful........" Like I said, it should be great!

Anyways, if anyone out there is interested in getting involved in any of the great things that I am helping out with/heading, just let me know! If you want to help financially or with a service you can twitter me (JenTheArmyWife) or if you would like to write a question to the advice column or write for the book you can email me at jen@armywifemagazine.com.