Weather, etc.

The day here is gray and it was pouring down rain this morning. It's supposed to get clear and then become VERY cold overnight. (Mind you, VERY cold here is upper 20s. Hey, I have become a delicate southern flower and I intend to stay that way. Give me 90 degrees and above with 80 to 100% humidity. You're supposed to swim through the air.... besides - why else do you suppose central air conditioning is my favorite invention of the 20th century????)

I cleaned out my dryer this morning. This is something I do every time I use the dryer with a brush I got (QVC, gotta love them!!) for the purpose of cleaning the lint out from the vent area. However, I had been finding myself most annoyed by continually having to put things back through the dryer 2 and 3 times. So I unplugged it and opened up the front and removed parts to clean out... omigod. It's a wonder the thing had not spontaneously combusted it was so full of lint. I remember now that I had intended to do this when we moved here in October and I had forgotten.. Then I had to have help moving the washer out so I could have room to reconnect the vent pipe in back and then crawl out over, under, around and through the machines (only a slight exaggeration, I assure you!!) so I could get them both pushed back into place and re-plugged in. I couldn't get the plug IN for the dryer so I had to call for help. Now, amazingly enough, the dryer is working and sounds so much quieter than before!!

I wonder what my soldier does for laundry now. Well, I wonder most everything about my soldier. I read some of the other blogs out there - especially the ones by soldiers in the field. You know, the ones that I have been told NOT to read by my son who is there. I have to know, though. It doesn't matter that they make me cry, it doesn't matter that they make me ache with missing Troy and worrying about him. I feel that anyway. They make me feel connected in some strange way, connected to the soldiers and marines who write them as well as connected to Troy who will not write a blog. Or, at least, IF he were to write one I don't think he'd tell me. He wants to protect me, I think, from the ugliness he must deal with and see every day. I know it exists, though. I see it on the news - even MSM, I read it in the other blogs, I know it is, it is evil, it is everywhere. I think he doesn't realize that knowing about it, being aware of it is essential. If you know something wicked this way comes then you can be prepared for it, you can fight it, you can simply be aware and thus protect yourself from at the least the brunt of it.
Let the storm rage on - inside and out. I know the sun will shine down on my head again, and I know I can stand in the shelter and shade by God's grace. Keep all our soldiers, marines, GIs of every flavor safe and whole and well oh God. Bring them home to us, bring them home to us sooner rather than later. And protect us from those fools among us who don't value them and the sacrifices they make. Those may be the more dangerous...