This Is Where We Live

Oh, look at me – posting three times on the same day. Well, I’ve been up since 3:30 (my usual wake-up-get-up time) posting pictures and emails to the soldiers and their families. I appreciate so much your emails to me commenting on this blog. You have no idea how much your contacts mean to me. This is all still new and strange and I find myself looking in the mirror every day and asking, “Linda, what the heck are you doing here at this army fort in miserable, hot, wet, cockroach-y south Texas, anyway?” The answer? Just hoping that we’re doing what the Lord would have us do at this time in our lives.

I keep asking the Lord to bless us with creative and sincere ideas – ways to help these lonely soldiers know we love and care about them.

There are many baptisms in boot camps around the world. About ten in every company at the end of their four months there. This is all thanks to the wonderful example set by their fellow faithful LDS soldiers. Their next stop after boot camp is AIT – Advanced Individual Training -- posts like Fort Sam. This is where they meet folks like us as well as additional LDS soldiers. The responsibility is so great! It’s scary, really. We keep meeting great guys and gals who are wavering, who are fearful of what their families think of their new spiritual choices. I keep praying that I’m not going to offend anyone in speech or example. Our whole branch presidency and our chaplain are made up of men and women who joined the church back when they served in the military because of the examples of others. You can see why I’m concerned about my own example.

It occurred to me that I haven’t told or shown anyone – not even closest family members – about our living conditions. I’ll point you in the direction of the website of

Sendero Ridge Luxury (ha!) Apartment Homes in San Antonio, Texas.

In case the link doesn’t come thru on this blog, just Google it if you’re interested. You’ll notice on the site they don’t show the overflowing trash bins, the doggie poo-poo all over the lawns (WE pick up after Polly! -- humph!) and the mold in the family swimming pool. Thankfully, we live near the lap pool (only 187 steps from our front door to the gate!) and I go every morning around 6:30 to that one. Kinda hard to do deep-water jogging and running in 4-1/2 feet of water but I manage. Laps too sometimes. There have been reports on the nightly news all summer about apartment pools that are unsanitary. Well, two weeks ago, Sendero Ridge made the news. I noticed a padlock on the family pool gate the next day. I’m glad we live near the lap pool which is considerably cleaner. Hardly anyone goes there. Can you believe it’s too hot here to go to the pool? At least after eight ayem when I get out of the water. There are about 325 apartments in this complex. We live a mile from the entrance.

Our apartment is about 1200 square feet – three bedrooms (we made one an office), two baths, and a teeny kitchen with a WAY teeny pantry. We bought used furniture including a totally awful washer and dryer. All the clothes that say “permanent press” on the labels – aren’t. I have to iron everything. We took Alan’s dozen white shirts to a local laundry and they totally ruined them. He wears pretty big shirts and they’re waaaay expensive. The collars and cuffs came back all permanently wrinkled. So now I do them myself and try to press those awful wrinkles out of the collars each time. Gr-r-r-r-r-r.

We had our first houseguest this past week. Friend "Texas Chris" who lives about three hours north. She and her dog, Kiwi came and they were very comfortable on our blow-up mattress. Chris said. We’re not going to buy more beds while we’re here. We brought our own bed from home but that’s it. Chris went with us to all our soldier events and had a good time while Polly doggysat Kiwi. Chris is leaving this week on a three-week European cruise with her cousin. She borrowed some clothes from me and I’m sure she’ll have a fabulous time.

I tried to import a pic of me sitting at the front of this complex with Pollyanna but I'm supposed to do that BEFORE I put the text in -- I forgot.

Again,
Just call me,
Hopeless Hannah