Housing Law Provides Protection for Military Families

According to National Military Family Association (NMFA), August 12, 2008:

In late July, President Bush signed “The Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008”, H.R. 3221, into law (Public Law 110-289). This legislation is designed to help homeowners keep their existing homes and provide first-time buyers access to affordable housing.

Military families should know that there are several provisions within H.R. 3221 that uniquely impact service members and veterans.

The law will:

Exclude military housing allowances from counting as income when service members try to qualify for low-income housing;

Expand the foreclosure protection for service members returning from deployment. Previously, service members had 90 days of protection from foreclosure, now they have nine months. This temporary protection expires on December 31, 2010;

Provide a temporary increase until the end of the year for the maximum loan guaranteed by the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA). The cap can be as high as $720,750 and as low as $417,000 depending on the median housing prices for the area;

Require the Secretary of Defense to develop a program to provide financial counseling to returning service members, including credit and home mortgage counseling;

Provide a moving benefit to service members who are forced to move out of rental housing if the owner of the housing is foreclosed on;

Increase grants for severally disabled veterans from $50,000 to $60,000;

Make totally disabled service members held on active duty for medical reasons eligible for VA grants for home alternations before their discharge;

Extend grants for specially adapted housing and assistance to veterans with severe burns and veterans residing outside the United States; and

Allow veteran benefits received as a lump sum to be treated as monthly benefits for the purposes of eligibility for Section 8 Housing assistance.

We are especially pleased members of Congress recognize the problems military renters face when their landlords go into foreclosure. NMFA will monitor the implementation of this legislation and provide updates as they become available.

To review the full law, go to: http://thomas.loc.gov/ and type HR 3221 into the search field.

Hooray! Thoughts?

A program to help military families and spouses (OEF/OIF)

There are some folks down at the VA in Amarillo, TX, looking for some feedback. In fact, they are seeking the assistance of military spouses and families in order to help the same. Two individuals that I have been in contact with regarding a new program are Richard Johnson and Suzanne Morton of the LEAD program through the VA (Thomas E. Creek, VAMC).

Currently, they are looking for ways to assist with families and spouses in via an outreach program entitled LEAD. Recently, Mr. Johnson posted about goals to address the concerns, issues and needs of families on the homefront. They are currently on an information gathering session and are asking spouses to contact them individually (keeping OPSEC and PERSEC in mind of course).

They are open to your thoughts and suggestions on how to provide support to spouses and families of members in Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom (OEF/OIF) and said veterans. Use them as your sounding board, they may have more resources to share with you than you knew existed and if they don’t, perhaps they can make some waves in getting the resources you seek.

Keep in mind that anonymity will be maintained as when reporting their findings, no names or other identifying information will be used concerning spouses/families who contact them. VA members are well versed in the security matters and while they respect your privacy, you too should be vigilant not too give away any unit/deployment/rotation information. At this time, that information is not needed for this program. I would venture to say that if you contact them, you can even choose just to give your first name.

Some of the questions they are seeking answers to are:

1) What has been the hardest struggle you have had to overcome?
2) How has behavior changes affected your family and social environment?
3) What benefits would you like to see offered for the spouse/family of veterans?
4) Would you benefit from meetings with other spouses and or family members?
5) What avenues have you tried and what were the outcomes?
6) Do you know of any OEF/OIF family members that are having problems? What are they?
7) What do you think would be the best way to get the information out to spouses or family members; through email, letter, booklet or CD?

Another matter Mr. Johnson wanted to raise awareness about is that “Veterans have up to 5 years after separation to seek services.”

If you would like to contact them, you may do so via email or phone at:

Richard Johnson
Richard.JohnsonJr@va.gov

Suzanne Morton
W.Morton@va.gov

Phone: (806) 355-9703 ext. 4917

Daddy is home and all is right with the world.

My husband flew home last night. Well, wouldn't you know the little boogers turned into perfect angels once they saw him.

Hmph.

Anyway, it's reunion time at my house. So, back to the arms of my man I run.

Oh, and for those of you wondering, I finally did get some sleep!

'Til later folks. :)

Did you hear that? It's quiet?

Well, I'm on a blogging kick today, aren't I?

I should tell you that despite that, today has been chaotic. Alright, chaotic isn't the most accurate description. It's been verging on...well, it rhymes with swell and swell it was not.

It all started last night actually. I had a bout of insomnia. With the man in blue gone I've been out of my sleep comfort lately. Up until last night, it wasn't that bad. Well, I tossed and turned, catalogued things to do in my head, thought about what I didn't get done yesterday and pondered the complexities of the universe. I finally started to fall asleep at one point only to be jolted awake by a screaming black cat outside of my bedroom window. Black. Cat. Ugh.

Anyway, it apparently had been fighting with something. I was irate. I actually got up and started shouting at the menacing devil cat out the window. I even hissed. Yes, I did. The cat looked at me as if to say What the f&*! ? So, we had a staring match. All the while I could have been trying to get back to sleep. Somehow common sense smacked me upside the head and back to bed I sauntered. ****WAAAAAAHHHHH*****

Darn it, the baby's up. He starts with the "Ma Ma Ma maaaaa". So sad and sweet all at the same time. I gamble that he may fall back to sleep. After about 2 minutes, I cave and go and rescue him. Well, after he's soothed and back in his crib again, I gave the whole sleeping thing another shot. FINALLY, at what I assume was officially hours after zero dark thirty, I fell asleep.

Well morning was ushered into by two screaming banshees. My eldest had previously poked me and asked to play on Playhouse Disney, which I obliged only to squeeze out a few more minutes of sleep (as if that was possible). Her sister, bound and determined to do whatever she was doing scampered down the hall to join her. The quiet and sweet sisterly computer sharing lasted for approximately 24 seconds. My mommy clock told me so.

Wild, blood curdling screaming ensued. The pinching game was on. Well, I was up now and sleep would have to wait (again). The baby, of course, heard all of this joyous music and, he too, was screaming. Well, he needed a diaper changing (badly). So amidst, wrestling the foul thing off of my sweet boy, I was trying to wrestle the two girls apart. She pinched me. No, I didn't. She wouldn't leave me alone. I want breakfast. Mommy, mommy, mommmyyyyyyy. Seriously, they were about a foot from me all while this madness took place.

I'm truly amazed that I didn't absolutely lose my mind and dissolve into a pile of ashes right in front them. Okay, so this seemed to go on for an eternity, while it actually only probably was about 2 minutes before everyone was calm again. My eyes were barely open and I really, really wished the man in blue was home because he SWEARS stuff like this never happens with him. Okay, Super Dad, what's your secret?

At any rate, most of the day was back and forth bantering. The lady next door to us a school teacher. When retrieving the mail, I asked Is it September yet? She said all the parents ask her that and she doesn't want to go back yet.

Oh, yes, there is more. So, we finally made it out to run some errands at one point. My mother tries to reach me by phone and does eventually. Where are you? There's a tornado warning in your county! Get inside somewhere. Go to a basement. Where are the kids?

Ummmm, well I'm trying to buckle them in, we just got out of Target and I have to run to the grocery store. You can't, get to a safe spot. At this point, I'm already on the highway heading home. I was officially spooked as I did see a sudden onset of nasty weather and lightening strike down practically vertically about a mile up the road. Yikes! Okay, I'll call you later, we'll go into another store. Well, I decided to brave it and head home. We have a basement, so it was the wisest thought (in my crazed mommy mind). Fret not, we made it home safely.

We did have to venture back out to retrieve items from the grocery store and that included a lot of Can I have? and I want..... Please tell every child in America is like this. If they are not, lie to me because mine can't be all that spoiled. Honestly, they CAN be real sweethearts and are well-behaved (for other people ;) ).

So, since I am writing a book here I'll cut to the chase...bedtime has come and gone and all is quiet on the homefront. I should really go to sleep now. Wish me luck with that, would ya'?

WWII Hero Passes On

London - Eric "Digger" Dowling has passed on. His Legacy page is up on the net by the AP.

Many of you may have seen or at least heard about the 1963 film The Great Escape. It was largely based on the escape and the planning leading up to the escape (with some theatrics and dramatics added in, of course). Dowling was a Lt in the Royal Air Force Bomber Command and had become a POW at an Allied prison camp after being shot down in WWII (specifically in 1942). While Dowling didn't actually escape as part of "The Great Escape", he was instrumental in mapping, digging and assisting men in escaping.

So, I received all of my Fellowship materials this week. Classes don't actually commence until September. However, being the uber-excited student that I am, I'm already delving into the depts of finance.

A friend of mine has also received this Fellowship and we will be traveling through webinars and studies together. Oh, and another friend of ours has already completed the program. She was chosen as a recipient in 2006. I've declared her as my mentor. She is a wealth of knowledge and a pretty spectacular person to boot. It's people like her that make me want to do great things. Let me tell you a bit about my mentor. She's a mom to two beautiful young children. She's also a military veteran (of two services) and a military wife. She also has her MPA and is quite the Suzy Homemaker as well, from what I hear. I love people are multi-faceted. Don't you?

Better late than never, Almost Wordless (ok not at all) Thursday

This is me and my niece the day of her Baptism.

(pardon the thrilled look on my face)

Then there is a pic from the other day (on the right) , my niece is the tall one in the middle and she is all grown up, well almost.

Either time really flies or I'm just getting old. Hmph.

All over the map.

I love to watch where my visitors hail from (or at least where they are currently located). I know folks in some of these regions, but not all.

So, readers, make a comment, even if it's not on the topic at hand. I'd love to know where you are from or even a little about you. More importantly, if you are a long-lost friend who is secretly (or not so) reading my blog, give a shout out. Say "hey". I know of one place recently that popped up and I only knew of one person to ever reside there. So, I'm curious.

What do you want to read? What intrigues you? What bores you? If I bore you, why the heck are you here?

C'mon, you know you want to talk to me, so talk.

These sneakers were made for walking.

Well, I'm gearing up. I'm getting read for the big 3-Day walk. If you don't know what I'm talking about, then let me tell you. I'll be traveling to Boston in August to walk in the Breast Cancer 3-Day which benefits Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Now, I'm pretty fit, and I've conquered many physical obstacles in my life, but this upcoming walk is a little daunting. No, there will be no "Slide for Life" or rappelling. Rather, it's just a walk. Still, this walk is 60 miles in 3 days. It's 60 miles of poignant, life-changing talks and meetings with families, friends and survivors who have been touched by Breast Cancer.

I thought one of the hardest parts was going to be raising the money for this great walk, but it's not that at all. Suddenly, I feel as though I'm going to be walking among giants. My girlfriend did this walk a couple of years back and has been forever changed by the amazing people she met and has since developed friendships with. She has warned me that I will never be the same.

I am participating in this walk for a number of reasons. First, I had the intentions of doing the walk years back with my husband (then fiancé), but we were never able to raise the minimum funds required. Fast forward a few years, I seemed continuously pregnant or not able to get childcare for the 3 days, so I never managed to pull it off. This year though, I made a commitment to this cause. I decided I just had to make it happen. Second, I want to help fund the research that could help me and my daughters should we ever face this horrible disease. Finally, I'm walking in memory of a military veteran and spouse, Rachael Jensen and in honor of a number of amazing survivors.

Nearly at the minimum requirement in my fundraising, I haven't yet met my personal goal, but that's okay. I am confident that I'm still going to raise more funds in the upcoming weeks. My training is going well so far. I did admit to my husband the other night that I'm a tad anxious about being away from him and the kids for 3 days. He chuckled and said it was because I was afraid to leave him in charge for that long. He's probably right.

At any rate, I'll be detailing the walk in the week following the event, but for now, if I'm not online as much, just know that I'm here and in training. I have to significantly increase my mileage this week. Of course, I'm not too concerned about my stamina. Since, my husband is currently traveling, I will have kids in tow with me wherever I walk. So, with a baby on my back and me pushing two older kids in a double stroller, the walk should be a piece of cake come check-in day when the only thing I have to carry is my Camelbak, moleskin and perhaps some Kleenex. :)

WW - Eine Mark

Traveling back in time.

Yesterday I was transported back to a time when butter was rationed and plane spotters patrolled the streets. I listened, with my loving husband, to the stories of two amazing people of The Greatest Generation. They shared with us their intimate memories and fears and anecdotal tales from high school up through the early 1950's. These were my husband's grandparents. Now both in their 80's still have quite remarkable memories.

In fact, I mentioned to my husband how I think I just received the best history lesson I ever sat through. It was candid and pure and kept us on the edge of our seats wanting more. We poured over albums and books and time slipped away from us. What first started with my interest in the era evolved into my husband and I becoming historian apprentices, in a way. The torch has been passed. We are now the keeper's of so much more than we ever dreamed. For we have stories to share for the next generations in our lives and those which will ideally be passed on even further.
The best part was the brilliant happiness the couple had in sharing their lives with us. It seemed as though they felt no one ever took an interest before. They were surprised by my fascination and were more than eager to answer all of my questions. I must admit, I felt a little sheepish at times because I didn't want to pry to much or compare what little I knew to the reality that existed back then. After all, I didn't want to insult or offend them.

In the coming weeks and months, I intend to share with you all so much more, but for tonight, I shall close with this:

They remarked to us how the most common denominator between those living during WWII and now was the military families. In their eyes, the military families exemplify a patriotism and honor that seems lost on most of today's society.