Remember those posters in the 80s where they show a person or an object and list all the features? They're all witty and clever. Yes, well this post isn't one of those...My desk is such a sty and there are so many different things from the day and the night before and the night I am settling into right now, it makes for an interesting forensic study--well... I mean, of course, to me...I am aiming for details...but witty or clever will only be accidental.

In the printer tray are from battle lapse maps of Battle of the Wilderness.This is Tony's big read right now. When I met him he was reading something called Cuban Diplomatic History from 1960 to 65 or some such thing...He reads and can spit it back out. I read it, forget it and then get to reread and still be surprised at the ending...If I was thrown in a foreign prison with only a handful of books I figure I could re-entertain myself for a solid year on half a dozen books...I also do this with movies...though I am thinking if I go to prison I stand a far less likely chance of being issued a personal DVD player.

Those are my favorite flannel pjs, a pair of Tony's socks I swiped... and my second favorite woobie--poncho liners ruuuuule. Hence why I have my second favorite one on my lap while my littlest hogs the one I have worked into heartbreaking perfection...Every house should have at least one of these things...sigh...and yes, I drive my oh so proper parents crazy by never sitting a chair properly. I hate to have my feet on the floor, I prefer perching in my seat with my feet tucked under me or up on the desk a little. As I get older these manueverings are proving more and more costly to my joint condition. It's hell pushing 40.

On the partition there is a cartoon of an F16 in the front of a suburban home where a man is loading cartoons of eggs as ordance and one neighbor is saying to the other, "Harry bought it on eBay. He says if the Comstock Brothers try to toilet paper our house, they'll get the egging of a lifetime. My friend Lanatron scratched out Harry and wrote in 'Hope' and changed a pronoun. Yep, this cartoon called me to her mind so much she cut it out and modified it JUST FOR ME. Duuuude...I am loved and obviously thought to be a little intense and vindictive...greaaaaaaat.

Under the cartoon is a running list for the upcoming homeschool party involving fire, sharp sticks, Toys for Tots and copious amounts of sugar and chocolate. Yeah buddy--it'll be a two-wipey-box-smore-slash-drop-your-hotdog-in-the-dirt-and-eat-it-anyway-go-home-smelling-like-a-brisket kind of event.

Underneath that list is another list of all the nice mamas who signed up to bring food to another mama in our homeschool group who is having her babymoon. Which reminds me Monday is my turn again...tying a string on my finger right now...

On another front I only just noticed in the taking of this picture that I am an envelope junkie...big ones, small one's, padded ones--g'head ask me for one, I bet I have it.

Yes, that is a hairbrush by my feet...heh...seems I have a 6 year old daughter who is antigrooming so I have to keep something handy to stealthbrush her hair...she hates it when I catch her, but always seems to forget about the incident, gets too close whereby Mom has another go at it. muwhahahaha...short term memory in a 6 year old isn't always a bad thing.

I finally finished that list laying just under my screen where the very cool CI Roller Dude is up. You must make him a read--really good stuff, wry and interesting in perspective...but please don't ask him how you can get out of a ticket...he won't tell.

Where was I??ah the list...I finally finished posting pictures from a packing party a group of awesome 6th grade Boy Scouts and their parents put on. They got 14 boxes out for some HazMat jarheads I sure needed help with...now those Marines get to see who was showing them some love stateside and all the cool stuff in the air and on the way to them now.

See that red glass there? Matthew, my littlest, has taken to waking up and wanting water. If he stays up too long waiting on it he just stays up--- soooo in the interest of a quiet night I stay locked and loaded in that regard. I got your water right here boy...Which reminds me I probably ought to move that away from the keyboard...

Next to the glass is a box of sleeves for CD and DVDs. I have one mama friend who tapes tv fare geared for 18 to 25 year old guys...Future Weapons, any kind of movie where someone is getting the C.R.A.P. beat out of them, Jackass, Simpsons and all other manner of high minded television...time doing it is as important as the money that some donate to ship...I have lots of fine people to be proud of.

The hairclip there seems to follow me around the house or at the very least mark where I have been up to the last half hour...it's like a mildly inaccurate Global Positioning System for mommies...what I'd like in added features for it is some sort of cloaking device for when I need to use a bathroom.

Under that glass in those little drawers are all the custom forms and labels I put on flat rate boxes and priority envelopes I send. Each box has 6 forms...thank God for carbon...

When we first started mil support we accidentally had 200 pounds of supplies sent to Connecticut instead of Iraq...we called around--okay I threw up a little first---then called until we found the boxes and the best words I ever heard where from the postmaster in Connecticut.."Ma'am did these boxes have pictures all over them? Yes, ma'am, those got rerouted, I remember becasue of the pictures."

Two more stories...

Sgt. Grumpy, can't give out his name for OPSEC reasons and they are in a bad enough area I can't put my return addy in case the mail gets in the wrong hands so I put a picture of Grumpy, Snow White's dwarf on the box so he knows who the stuff is from.

On my boys' Christmas present boxes to Karmah, I found the coolest picture of two little boys laying in the grass with their hands over their eyes and the caption I wrote under it said 'NO PEEKING TIL CHRISTMAS, MARINE!' Tony carried those boxes out to the car for me, looked at the picture and snorted..."Oh--yeah--THAT'S gunnahappen..."

So there it is. The forensic study of my desk which I am sure held a deathgrip on anyone's attention who made it through to the end. This is where I rant, visit, worry, discuss and check in with the world especially when it's too cold to go out and do it any other way. Nothing beats the face to face stuf, but in it's absence this serves a good purpose, too...

Hoping everyone is well. Thanks for the good wishes. Can't wait to see what everyone else has been doing and if you want to consider this a meme or you need one for a night when you want to blog, but have nothing you really feel compelled to say, give this a go.