THE last coffee shipment

I did it. And I am done.

Yesterday, I sent out the last shipment of coffee to Jack Bauer.

Now, I am officially retiring from the care package business.

Well, at least for this deployment go round anyway.

Enjoy, Jack Bauer. You've got 5 pounds of Highlander Grogg coming at you.

The LAST big care package

I swear this is it. No more big care packages to send after this. Maybe some coffee but that's about it. Meaning, THIS.IS.IT!!! Woohoo!

Jack asked for flavored nuts from Trader Joe's. Let's see what we got ...

• Traditional Thai Lime and Chile Peanuts
• Thyme for Rosemary Nuts x3
• Capitola Cashews (cashews, pineapple, peanuts, lemongrass, chile, sesame seeds
• Habanero Pistachios
• Sweet, Savory & Tart Trek Mix
• Salty, Sweet & Nutty Trek Mix
• Sesame Honey Almonds
• Black Peppered Cashews
• Wasabi Tamari Almonds
• Roasted & Salted Whole Cashews
• Thai Lime & Chili Cashews

That's like a lot of nuts. I sure hope Jack Bauer and the CTU Gang like them.

But of course, I included a few other things from Trader Joe's ...

• Cape Gooseberry Fruit Bar
• Mango Fruit Bar
• Dried Rainer Cherries
• Ginger Chews

I also hit Target ...

• Aquaphor Advanced Therapy Healing Ointment
• Archer Farms (Target Brand) Chocolate Chip Pecan Petite Cookies, Double Peanut Butter Chewy Soft Baked Cookies

And I had to throw in some College Farms Organic candy to fill the nooks and crannies ...

• Chocolate Mint x3
• Luscious Lemon x3
• Strawberries & Cream x3
• Vanilla Caramel x3

And a few magazines ...

• Consumer Report 2008 Best & Worst Cars. Wanna make sure we are on the same page for buying a new car when he gets home.
  
• Warrior Citizen
• National Geographic
• Bark

So that is it. The end of the BIG care packages. And one step closer to him being home. :D

Coffee for the CTU Gang

I sent off another care package to Jack Bauer and the CTU Gang yesterday. It should be one of the last ones I send. Really, I got to think that our time is beginning to wind down. Maybe I'll send them a ton of coffee just before Jack leaves so the Gang that remains behind isn't left completely without. Oh sure, I could continue to send them stuff, but chances are I won't. I've been extremely generous already.

Anyway, here is what I sent in this last package.

• Kaldi's Highlander Grogg Whole Bean Coffee, 5 pounds

• Trader Joe's Handful of Almonds. These are individual packs of almonds; great for throwing in the pocket.

• Trader Joe's Dried Mango

• Trader Joe's Dried Dragon Fruit. I really have no idea what this fruit tastes like. It just sounds good. :D

• Surf Sweets Organic Jelly Beans. Maybe they will arrive in time for Easter and Jack can make sure someone with a sweet tooth gets them.

• Surf Sweets Organic Fruit Bears

More puppies

A few weeks ago I sent Jack Bauer the doggies because I was just too frustrated with them. Apparently, they are now guarding his office when he is not there. He took a much better picture of them than I did. I thought I would share with you. That's Bear on the left and Moo on the right. In fact that looks just like Moo, except that Moo weighs about 95 pounds more and prefers to lie on her back with her feet up in the air. Such a silly princess doggie.

More packages to the CTU Gang

This past Saturday I sent Jack Bauer and his gang some goodies.

5 lbs Kaldi's coffee

2 pairs of tevas, old used ones mind you, cuz he didn't want to buy new ones.

From Whole Foods

• Magnet with pic of dog that says "All the things I like to do are either immoral, illegal, or fattening." - Alexander Woollcott (1887-1943). How totally true is that statement?
  
• Organic Caramel Truffles
• Truffled Espresso Clusters
• Allegro Celebration Coffee (1/2 pound) cuz they can never seem to get enough good coffee.
• Fleur de Sel caramels
• Little bites chocolates
• Newman's Own ginger mints
• College Farm hard candies

Care Package for the CTU Gang

I am sending off a couple of care packages to Jack Bauer and his gang at CTU. I got some positive feedback from the gang on the last shipment so I am trying to out do myself here.

Yesterday's care packages included:
5th season of the Sopranos
multivitamins

Then I hit Harry & David
Moose Munch - Dark Chocolate
Moose Munch - Caramel, Cashews, and Almond
Moose Munch Bars - Milk Chocolate; Caramel with Cashews and Almonds
Sesame Sticks (oooh how I love these things)
Crater Lake Crunch
Chocolate Truffles - Coffee
Chipotle Cheddar Cheese Straws
Classic Dipping Pretzels
Pretzel Dipping Sauce - Apricot, Mango, Wasabi
Chocolate Pretzels

Jolly Ranchers and Laffy Taffy (kids are so punny)

And I finally got fed up and I am sending the doggies. I let Moo put the one that looks like her in her mouth to get it more like her. And then I rub the doggies all over with them so I could pick up some of their dogginess to send to Jack. :D

Care Package for my Soldier

A care package for my Jack Bauer. I sent this out yesterday.

• Almonds and cashews from Trader Joe's
• National Geographic
• Newman's Own Organics Ginger and Cinnamon Mints
• Starbucks coffee. I needed to fill up the box and I didn't want to drive far to get Kaldi's. And apparently that was a good idea. Jack is sharing his coffee quite a bit
• Columbia Narino El Tambo, Black Apron Exclusive
• Guatemala Casi Cielo
• Sulawesi, an old favorite of Jack's
• Chocolate-covered espresso beans and caramels from Starbucks. I figure it is still cold enough out here and in Iraq that there is a slight chance that they won't melt. It is just an experiment.
• Laser pointer, per his request.
  
• Jolly Ranchers.

Quick, easy, thrown together. I think he, and his officemates, will like the change in coffees very much. And they can have fresh breath afterwards too. :D

Phew! Just made the deadline

Yesterday afternoon, I headed to my post office to send off a few things. It never occurred to me that the post office might have closed early. I HAD to get an envelope in the mail, local taxes due. But that wasn't all I wanted to mail. So I had to head downtown, through the "bad" neighborhoods, to the central post office and hope and pray that it wasn't also closed. Fortunately, it was open but also closing early. I made it just in time.

In addition to the taxes, I mailed Jack Bauer a small care package: 5 lb. of coffee, hand cream, and two cute puppy calendars (Rottweilers and German Shepherds).

I also had some cards for Soldiers' Angels Germany. Another 28 cards of encouragement for our wounded Soldiers. For the year, the total cards I sent (there were maybe up to 15 or 20 that weren't written by me) comes to 696. Hmmm. That's kind of a lot.

What to send for Christmas

Some Soldier's Mom, who I had the pleasure of meeting in Las Vegas, has but up a great post on what to send, what NOT to send, when to send Christmas stuff to our soldiers, marines, sailors, and airmen.

I cannot imagine being in a combat zone, thousands of miles from home... on Christmas... and not having one present to open...

One of her suggestions is a lightweight fleece blanket, and I know Jack Bauer loves the one my parents sent him last year for Christmas. SSM has some great ideas for packages if you are looking for new ideas for something to send anytime of the year too.

Be sure to check out her post here.

Care Package filled with ...

I'm running out of ideas for care packages. Let's see what's going out today.

National Geographic Sept 2007. Cover story is on Pakistan.

From Trader Joe's
Just a Handful of Almonds x2.
Fancy Mixed Nuts
Dried Bing Cherries
Dried Black Currents
Dried Sweetened Hibiscus Flowers
Dried Lychees (I have no idea what these taste like)

From Whole Foods

Cherry, Cranberry, and Peach Fruit Strips (he is probably not going to like these, but what the heck)

Newman's Own Organics, Ginger Mints x2

From Starbucks
After Coffee Mints Cinnamon
After Coffee Mints Vanilla

From Origins
Peace of Mind: on-the-spot relief
Checks and Balances: frothy face wash
A bunch of samples: Plantidote Mega-Mushroom Body Cream and Face Serum; A Perfect World Skin Guardian and Moisturizer; Modern Friction face scrub
And some handouts on what the products do.
All in a zip-lock bag.
And directions on how to use it all. :D

From Build-A-Bear Workshop
A Fuzzy Bunny Pen, from my shopping trip to get my little inner bunny. I even wrote the customs for with the pen. :D

A quick package

The coffee consumption in Iraq continues to be high.

Yesterday, I sent Jack Bauer 5 pounds of Kaldi's Sumatra Mandheling coffee.

And a bunch of Jolly Ranchers. I hope they don't melt.

Care packages to a new location

While Jack Bauer may still be finishing up the current assignment, I am thinking ahead to the next assignment. I want to make sure that he starts off this next assignment well and with the small things that might make life slightly more bearable. So I am sending him a bunch of stuff.

Box #1




Kaldi's Highlander Grogg. 5-pound bag.




Altoids Tangerine Sours. 3 tins. He asked for Mango Sours but I cannot remember what store I found them in. So I ordered them from Amazon, which of course, won't ship them to APOs, which means they are coming to me then to the new APO. Ridiculous. (You gotta click on the Altoids product site; they have a shooting gallery.)

College Farm Organic Hard Candies in Vienna Roast. 4 4.75-oz bags.



Note from me on one of the cards I purchased at Papyrus during retail therapy last Friday.


Box #2

Dr. Bonner's Magic Soaps 18-in-1 Hemp Pure Castile Soap in Lavender, Almond, Tea Tree, and Eucalyptus (and I triple plastic bagged those). He really liked the shipment of these soaps back in May.

Jelly Belly Sours. 1 box.

Trader Joe's Just a Handful of Dry Roasted Unsalted Almonds. x2

TJ's Dried Black Currents, Dried Berry Medley (cherries, blueberries, strawberries), Dried Tart Montmorency Cherries, Dried Ranier Cherries, dried California Navel Oranges.

One tin of Altoid Tangerine Sours (yeah, it didn't fit in Box #1)

Ice Breakers Sours. Pink Lemonade, Apple, Tangerine, Watermelon x2 and Berry Splash, Strawberry, Raspberry Lemonade x2.

Topped off with handful of Werther's Original Hard Candies and a handful of Jolly Ranchers (I hope they don't melt).

And another butterfly card from me.




Box #3

Trader Joe's Dried White Peaches, dried Extra Choice/Choice Apricots (sounds suspicious), dried Pitted Prunes, dried Bartlett Pears, dried Chile Spiced Mango (apparently this went over well last time), Dried Pineapple Rings, Dried Sweetened Hibiscus Flowers (I tried these -- yum!), Nothing But ... Banana, Flattened (very flat), and Sweetened & Dried Mango.

Ginger People's Ginger Chews x2

Eucerin Plus Intensive Repair Hand Creme x6. I think this new location is going to be just as dry as the last.

And of course, another butterfly card.

One last package to Anbar

I am about to send the last care package to Jack Bauer of this deployment.




We've got 3 pounds of Kaldi's Highlander Grogg.




Trader Joe's Just a Handful of Dry Roasted Unsalted Almonds. Nice handy snack packs of nuts. Would have probably been great to take on missions. Too bad I didn't think of that before now. Oh well.




More shampoo. Avalon Organics Scalp Treatment Shampoo x2. I think he asked for 4, but Whole Foods didn't have 4. So what other organic hair products does the modern warrior get??? How about Avalon Organics Awapuhi Mango Moisturinzing Shampoo and Nature's Gate Organics Moisturizing Shampoo in Chamomile & Lemon Verbena. (And yes, I flat out lie to the USPS about shipping liquids. Hey, but I double-ziploc the bottles. Doesn't that count for something?)




And to sweet the box, I topped it all off with some more Jolly Ranchers and a special note from me.

At what temperature do Jolly Ranchers melt?

I have no idea hot it must get for Jolly Ranchers to melt to the inside of a flat-rate box.

But apparently that is what happened the last time I mailed a package to Jack Bauer.

And a Package TO the Sandbox

Here's the latest installment of what I am sending to Jack Bauer.

Candy, candy, candy. I figure this is most likely one of the last shipments to him at Camp Ramadi. Not having much of a sweet tooth himself, he can share it with his guys and send it out on missions for the children.

Gotta throw in a few other things for good measure.

• Chinese Feng Shui Hand Carved Jade Luck Charm for Good Health. Why the hell not?

• Herban Cowboy Shave Cream (100% Healthy & Vegan) and Milled Soap (70% Organic). They were free samples given out at Whole Paycheck. (I would have inserted a picture here of the products in use, but the pictures were split into a top half and a bottom half. Sorry ladies, you will just have to click to see the HOT men using these organic vegan products.)
  

• Eucerin Plus Intensive Repair Hand Creme x3. I understand it is quite dry over there. :)

• Magnetic Yoga. Which consists of 63 square magnetics of different poses. He is hoping to do yoga with me when he gets home.

• A magnet of a shar-pei with the quote, "Did you ever stop to think, and then forget to start again?"

• Kaldi's Highlander Grogg. I guess that 5-pound bag is disappearing rather quickly. (I love this coffee.)
  
  
  

So what candy and how much?

• LifeSavers Fruit Tarts

• Altoids Mango Sours

• College Farms Organic Hard Candy x7

• Jolly Ranchers, 3.75 lb bag

That's a lot of candy. The box weighed almost 10 pounds.

What does Jack Bauer get in his care package?

I am preparing another care package for my wonderful husband. Some of the stuff I send him in every package, like coffee and hard candy, but I like to send him something that is just to remind him of me. Here's the contents of this outgoing package.

• The Dangerous Book for Boys by Conn Iggulden and Hal Iggulden. Per Jack's request. He sent me this link to the book. I think he is trying to recapture his childhood. Here is a review.

• 2 pounds of Kaldi's coffee, whole bean: 1 pound Highlander Grogg (cuz it still smells sooooo goooood) and 1 pound Fair Trade Organic Peru La Florida (cuz Jack asked for something "sexy"; not sure what that means but, hey, I tried).

• Do You Know Your Groom? A quiz about the man in your life. by Dan Calinsky. This is a silly quiz book, 100 questions, that Jack will "grade" to see how well I know him. Ten points per correct answer. Above 900: What a performance! 800-900: Very good for a couple just starting out. 600-790: Pretty good. You'll improve as time goes by. Below 600: Ask your groom for a remedial course. Having not really lived together for 17 months, I am a little concerned about how I scored. Anyway, I am also sending him Do You Know Your Bride? Let's see how he does.

• A magnet with the saying "Today is the first day of the rest of your life!" Just cuz.

• From Trader Joe's, chile spiced dried mango and ginger chews (2 separate things). Cuz I was looking for something totally off the wall. I think I succeeded. :)
  

• Eucerin Dry Skin Therapy Plus Intensive Repair Hand Creme x4. My poor baby's hands.

• Lens cleaner and a soft cloth. Gotta keep them sunglasses clean and sand-free.
  

• Ice Breakers Sours. Pink Lemonade, Apple, Tangerine, Watermelon x2 and Berry Splash, Strawberry, Raspberry Lemonade x2.

• Life Savers and Life Savers Orange Mints.

• 4 bags of College Farm Organic Hard Candies in Strawberry & Cream (x2) and Luscious Lemon (x2). They are put in loose to fill in the crevices. Jack asked for something fruity. I think I got fruity done!
  

• A Father's Day card from the doggies and the kitty.

• A naughty card from me! Purrrrrrrr!
  

Gift for a Doggie Daddy

I sent JD a care package today:

• Adorable Dogs edited by Helen Exley, which is a collection of cute doggie pix and doggie quotes.
  
  It is from the doggies and included a note:
  
  Dear Daddy,
  When we saw this at B&N, we told mommy that she had to get it. We jumped up and down and wouldn't stop woofing until she agreed. Then we smiled and sat down and swished our tails like good doggies. Mommy got us treats from 3DB!
  Love, Moo & Bear.
  
  
• 2 pounds of Kaldi's coffee, whole bean: 1 pound Highlander Grogg (cuz it smells sooooo goooood) and 1 pound Dharma Lava Java (cuz JD likes Indonesian dark roasts).
  
  
  
• The local weekly free paper. You know the kind that has the naughty personals in the back. teeheehee.
  
  
• April and May 2007 issues of National Geographic.
  
  
• Tiffany & Co. mini-catalog on Celebration Rings - just cuz. A girl can dream, right? ;)
• LifeSavers Fruit Tart tins (watermelon, cherry lemonade, mandarin orange and grape berry, green apple, strawberry watermelon).
  
• 6 bags of College Farm Organic Hard Candies in Vienna Roast (x3), Chocolate Mint (x2), and Vanilla Caramel (x1). They are put in loose to fill in those crevices.
  
• Dr. Bonner's Magic Soaps 18-in-1 Hemp Pure Castile Soap in Peppermint, Almond, Tea Tree, and Eucalyptus (and I triple plastic bagged those).
  
  
  
  
  
• 2 body wash mesh ball puffy thingies - I wanted to get him just the pink one, but I thought better of that so I got a white one too!
  
  
• And a special note, the contents of which only JD gets to see.