I found a great discount for those of us dealing with snow! While you're there, check out the other great discounts on Military Spouse Magazine's website.

SnowCare for Troops 

Project EverGreen has partnered with The BOSS Snowplow to connect military families with snow and ice management professionals and volunteers to provide free snow and ice removal services.  It’s called the SnowCare for Troops program. 

http://www.milspouse.com/military-discounts.aspx#

Disney discount discovered!

The Swan and Dolphin gave me an EXCELLENT military discounted rate! $159 for a resort view (parking lot) and $184 for a preferred view (the parks and surrounding area). The funny thing is that when I called ITT to clarify a discrepancy in dates for the park ticket promo, she said she had never heard of the hotel discount at the Swan and Dolphin. As she was researching something for me, she called the Disney agent and THEY had not heard of it. I found out about it at Mousesavers and then got it when I called the Swan and Dolphin. Seeking to maximize our savings on dining (they don't accept the Dining Plan at the S&D), I called again to ask about their military discounts on dining at their hotels. They offer a whopping 50% on all food and beverages (excluding alcohol) with the exception of the Signature Restaurants (Shula's, etc.).

All I'm saying is for the love of mike, ASK! Ask for discounts and don't be ashamed to do it. Our spouses, or we, serve and should take advantage of any military discount provided.

Swimming Against The Tide

Did you ever have a time in your life when it seems as if you are swimming against the tide? I mean you are using the strokes you were taught in swimming class and kicking your legs furiously, yet you don’t seem to be getting anywhere? That is where I am today. I am writing the queries with style and finesse, and looking around the internet for assignments, but no luck. I have standing assignments from a few of my regular editors, but that does not keep me in my fuel of choice, coffee, or pay my phone bill.

Today I am also dealing with a collapsed retaining wall involving many calls to insurance (which will not pay for it) and the mason, invitations for a Communion party that need to be addressed and mailed, the need to help in Computer class at my son’s elementary school today, and tons of other mundane tasks that have no relation to work, but that need to be completed in order to be able to find my desk in the first place.

All of this adds up to the need to work which isn’t happening today.

How about you? How is your day going? Leave a comment and let’s complain together. Maybe it will make us all feel a little better knowing someone else is out there going through similar stuff.

Military Spouses Make The Best Employees

Well, they do when they are employed, but what about when you don’t receive a salary? In this difficult job market, some of us cannot get a job in our field and sometimes in any other field. We are over-qualified or do not have a traditional work history. If we want to simply take any job to pay the bills, companies do not want to hire us because they think we are going to get bored and leave, I suppose. Add to this your status as a military spouse, and it gets even more difficult.

This was a huge problem when I lived in Virginia. I was fresh out of college, but I was in my early thirties when I graduated. Many employers said I was over-qualified and they felt I would be dissatisfied with the mundane tasks put before me if they hired me. What?! I wanted a job, a place to begin my career and money in my pocket. They did not get it. I hear others are in the same boat especially with the current economy making employers leery of hiring anyone new.

Here is a newsflash to all of the employers out there who do not want to hire competent, well-trained workers with a great work-ethic who have been working from home for years while moving to new duty stations every few years. You cannot get a better employee. We work hard because we have to. In order to continue getting new business if we own our own, we have to constantly be on the prowl for new clients. When we get a job in which someone else is paying us, we are grateful, so we show up on time, dress professionally and fulfill our responsibilities. We are highly creative for the most part. I am not talking about crafts - though many of us are into making things - I am talking about things like these:

• Creative packing. We have to pack rather quickly which all milspouses know is a serious challenge. You need to figure out what to keep and what to save for that final house after retirement.
• “The Box.” As we near our PCS date, we use up the food in our cupboards, and sometimes come up with the most interesting meals, don’t we? We have to get rid of food by figuring out what is good enough to pass on to another family, what we should toss, and what will be helpful during our first days in housing. Babette Maxwell of Military Spouse Magazine calls it a “Departing Box.”
• Necessary deception. If our children ask a question the answer to which will disturb them, or if we simply do not have a good enough answer yet, we sometimes have to do a tap dance. We come up with something that takes into account their level of maturity and degree to which they need to know, then come up with an appropriate story until it’s time for the truth. It is a way of letting them down easy in case we have bad news later on.
• Finally, as military spouses, we frequently have to single-handedly run the show at home while our active duty family member is away for whatever reason. This is the time I give serious credit to all of the single parents I know. It can be difficult doing everything, but we get really good at it … because we have to.

So next time you think twice about hiring someone who has been at home for a while or is a military spouse, don’t think, just hire. We are a great asset to any business.

Notes:

The 2009 Defense Authorization Act is now law, and includes a 3.9 percent across-the-board raise in military basic pay, effective on January 1, 2009. That means military members will see the raise in their January 15 paychecks.

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/fy2009paycharts/a/bpayenlless.htm

Shades of a Gray Economy

I am fond of saying there are no completely new ideas, therefore if I am thinking about something, so is someone else – or “a bunch of someone elses.” I may be late to the party with regard to this idea, but I have noticed something. Fashion trends seem to mirror the economy. My reflection on the state of the economy is simple and probably only interesting to me. I am thinking of changing my hair color or, rather, no longer coloring it. Coloring is costly, time-consuming and as my hair seems to be completely and uniformly salt-and-pepper-colored underneath the brown tones, it may end up looking kind of cool.

Has anyone else made a drastic personal change due to the current economy? Tell me about it here. Maybe I can “borrow” your idea.