What a Seal of a Deal

Soldier Mommy is my Beloved's niece. She has been my FAVORITE member of Beloved's family (with the exception of himself) for years. As a scrawny, colt-legged seven-year-old she won my heart. It didn't matter that she didn't know she was supposed to brush the back of her head with a hairbrush before she went to school. It didn't matter to me that most of the time her clothes didn't match. And it didn't matter that there were times, when she was a kiddo, that she was dishonest with me (even though at the time I wanted to smack her silly).

She is and will probably always be one of my favorite persons on the planet.

Right now, at this very moment, she's playing soldier in Iraq. Scary. She assures me she's in no danger, but I looked on her myspace and I saw those pictures of her with the big gun on top of the big truck. I'm not nearly as stupid as I look.

When she was in boot camp, about a million years ago, I wrote her nearly every week. When she was on security detail for the Olympics, I kept a close eye on the Game Master (her oldest son). Whenever she's been called away on Army business, her boys have dropped their duffel bags at our house.

But not this time. This time they are with the General and he's running a tight ship.

Aside from not having the boys around, I haven't sent her a single letter. Not one. I am a bad auntie.

It isn't as though we don't talk, because we do, I just feel bad because I haven't sent her anything.

She told me she wanted COOKIES. My cookies, to be exact. She told me to seal-a-meal them. I looked around. I asked around. I begged and pleaded. No one I know had a seal-a-meal. I thought I'd have to buy one, meaning, on payday I'd have to price them and see if I had enough pennies to purchase one.

When I told Soldier Mommy that I couldn't find a seal-a-meal during our online chat at Thanksgiving she said okay. Then moments later she informed me that a camcorder and a seal-a-meal would be arriving in a week or so and would I please mail the camcorder and FILL the seal-a-meal bags with COOKIES.

How could I pass that up?

Because I don't mail packages out of the country very often, I didn't realize that I needed a customs form. Duh.

So, the box has been carefully packed and is sitting here waiting to be mailed. Customs form attached this time.

And while I know that the cookies I baked (chocolate-chocolate chip and oatmeal walnut) will be gobbled up and appreciated, I cannot wait for her to be back home. Safe in the arms of her family.

Man, am I gonna bake her something then!