Honor Flight Chicago | kimberly ah

Apr 18 2013

Up & Attem’

This was my sweet Presley yesterday morning when I got up to get ready for the first Honor Flight of 2013. It was 1:30AM and, as usual she gave me the cutest little send-off ever (all while Naoto snored, mind you). I got home from volunteering around 8AM, ate breakfast and took a long nap. It was dark and stormy all day yesterday, setting the mood for snuggling on the couch, reading Relish and occasionally checking on a frightened Presley.

Today it is still raining…and flooding, so Naoto is working from home. Presley is out of hiding for a moment…another storm is supposed to roll our way shortly. And I’m trying to clean up our apartment for Naoto’s party on Saturday.

I still have my invitations and a little paper Spam Musubi-making tutorial to share, so hopefully tomorrow will be a little bit brighter so I can take pictures. And, while all of this is happening, I’ll be stalking my email as I continue to wait for word on our (potential) community garden plot.

Tagged forest park, garden, gardening, Honor Flight Chicago

Apr 12 2013

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Honor Flight Chicago

TGIF

Happy Friday! Do you have exciting plans for the weekend? Tonight, I am packing up the mail call for eighty-some World War II veterans for our first Honor Flight of the season. Thankfully, my friend and fellow volunteer Barb is coming over tonight to help. I’m excited to try out some new systems this year to see what we can do more efficiently and effectively. I’m determined to keep this big volunteer job tucked into a tiny corner of my mind so I can enjoy the summer.

We have nothing on our calendars for tomorrow, so I am hoping to get some things done around our apartment and finalize our plans for Naoto’s Welcome Back to Food party next weekend. I sent out the invitations today (and will share them here next week) and I’m excited to think up some menu ideas and some easy decorations that can be tackled next week (crossing fingers).

And coffee…there will be coffee.

Tagged celebrations, coffee, Honor Flight Chicago

Jan 18 2013

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Honor Flight Chicago, snail mail

Gearing Up for Volunteer Work Again…

If you’ve been reading long enough, you know I spent a significant amount of time collecting and sorting mail for Honor Flight Chicago. (If you haven’t been following along, this post explains it all.) I’ve had a lovely (and much needed) break from mail call since our Honor Flight season goes only from the spring to the fall, although if you looked at my four foot pile of school mail that has come in over the winter, you would wonder if there really was a break!

Now we have our dates set for the 2013 season. I wasn’t surprised to see that there are only five flights for this season. For the past few years, we’ve done ten flights…but World War II veterans are getting older and slowing down, and filling flights is more of a challenge with the unpredictable medical situations facing the men and women of this age group.

So, if you live in Chicagoland and would like to thank a World War II veteran in person for his or her service to our country, please consider attending a Welcome Home Celebration at Midway Airport. It is magical, it is emotional, it is patriotic, it is unforgettable…

If you don’t live in Chicagoland and would like to thank a World War II veteran for his or her service to our country, please consider writing a letter. Last year when I started the mail collecting adventure the Letter Writers Alliance helped spread the word about Honor Flight to their members and I received a lot of great letters–some from as far as the Netherlands (thanks, Cath!)–to fill the mail packs of veterans with no families. If you would like to participate, you can find the address here under the Thank A Vet tab.

Our flights for the 2013 season are April 17, May 14, June 12, July 10 and August 7. If you would like to attend a Welcome Home, be at Midway Airport’s baggage claim area by 8pm on the flight day of your choice. If you would like to send a letter, feel free to send one at your leisure. Our mail call deadline is the Friday before each flight, so your last chance to send a letter is August 2nd.

And finally, if you know of a World War II veteran who hasn’t flown with Honor Flight but might like to, please have him or her fill out the application and send it in.

And now, back to taking pictures of my shiny clean desks (and to start tackling the new mess I created in the second bedroom).

Photo from here

Tagged Honor Flight Chicago, snail mail

Nov 11 2012

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Honor Flight Chicago, thoughts

Veterans Day

Thank you.

photo from the Honor Flight Chicago October 23, 2012 flight

Tagged Honor Flight Chicago

Oct 25 2012

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Honor Flight Chicago

Digging Out

This week has been all about reclaiming my home and my time from Mail Call–eventually I promise to stop talking about it…at least for a few months.

Above is a picture of what my dining room looked like on Monday night while I was packing up the Veterans’ mail packs. I was using the buffet, a side table from the living room and the dining table to spread all of the personal, general and student mail so I could build each veteran’s Mail Call and pack them all up in the backpacks. At one point, I was working on the floor because I didn’t have any table space left, but as I made my way through the alphabet, I graduated to a chair and the dining table.

On Tuesday, after my morning volunteer shift and a nap, I sorted through all of the mail call stuff and packed it up to take it to the airport office for winter storage. This is what it looked like (not counting the 18 backpacks that were on the flight). I had ten empty banker’s boxes (used for sorting mail), five boxes of leftover general & student mail, two boxes of stuff and eight empty boxes for recycling and eight USPS bins that I’ve accidentally been hoarding. (Don’t worry, I’ve already given them back to my trusty letter carrier.) It took three cart trips to take it all downstairs to my car, and a handful of wonderful volunteers to help me carry it all into the office.

I’m going to say it again–it feels good to have some space back around here! Now, back to the rest of the clean-up!

Tagged Honor Flight Chicago

Oct 23 2012

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Honor Flight Chicago, snail mail

Another Post About Mail Call…

It was a close call*, but all of the mail for the 2012 season is packed up and ready to be “delivered” to the eighty-six Veterans on the flight home tonight. I did 100% of the mail call work for this flight yesterday–on the day before the flight–CRAZY! But it worked out fine, and I found myself quite productive under pressure. I wrote 100% of my college papers on the night before they were due (ahem, or on the day they were due!), so this was merely a procrastinator’s flashback.

I’m heading back to the airport in a bit for the Welcome Home, then coming home and crashing in my bed tonight to catch up on the sleep. (I stayed up too late last night watching the debate coverage and the Bears game!) And, I’ve promised my dear, ever-so-patient husband that I will put our home back together again tomorrow…maybe I’ll post some before/after pictures so you can gasp at the insanity around here. (Or maybe not.)

*exaggeration…I was done by 9 last night. I had to have the mail at the airport by 3:15 this morning…plenty of time!

Tagged Honor Flight Chicago, snail mail

Oct 22 2012

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Honor Flight Chicago, snail mail

the Last Mail Call of 2012

Today I will be working on sorting and packing mail for our last Honor Flight of 2012. And, though I love my volunteer job and I love my mailman and I love doing something for these deserving veterans, I am so ready to have my house back. No more piles of mail sitting around, no more file boxes in my spare bedroom and dining room, no more lugging backpacks to the car…and, I am ready to have some time back to craft and write letters and clean and get ready for the holidays. (I don’t mean to sound complainey…I am just ready for a little break.)

So, off to sort and pack up a few thousand pieces of mail for eighty-some veterans…the flight is tomorrow morning and I have a lot of work to do!

Tagged Honor Flight Chicago, snail mail

Oct 05 2012

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crafty adventures, homemaking

when things fall apart…

I only took this picture to show you that I not only bought a frame for my letterpress project, but I also hung it up. But that is the extent of the home improvement projects around here…as a matter of fact, if you look closely at the background, you can see the remains of my mail call mess that still lives in the dining room. (You cannot see the mail call mess in the living room, kitchen, guest room, hallway and car, but it is there.)

So, in spite of living in a messy house, being behind on broken blog promises (The Little Red Toolbox will be back soon!), being behind on a boatload of mail, being behind in my party planning and Halloween decorating and being behind in my book club reading, I am still a happy and thankful girl…even when things fall apart.

Tagged decorating, diy, home, home improvement, Honor Flight Chicago

Sep 12 2012

another flight day

Today is another Honor Flight, the third-to-last of the season. The car has been loaded up with approximately six thousand pieces of mail for 95 veterans. And, as long as you’re reading this on Wednesday, I am most likely at Midway Airport or I’m sleeping. I don’t do much of anything else on Flight Days.

Pictured above are the Legacy Girls with one of our veterans from last month’s flight. The Legacy Girls are an Andrews Sisters tribute group. They entertain our World War Two veterans at the gate before each flight, singing all of the old favorites like “Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy of Company B”, “Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree” and many patriotic songs. It is quite a party with flags and bunting, coffee and donuts and lots of excitement about the day ahead.

I will be back tomorrow, sleep & photography willing, with some pictures of our guest bathroom for your enjoyment–a little “reality check” in our 1970s condo!

In the meantime…

picture from the Honor Flight Chicago website

Tagged Honor Flight Chicago, snail mail

Aug 03 2012

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adventures

soaking up summer

When our neighbor friends, Brett & Stacy, asked me to go to the game with them on Wednesday, I hesitated. I had Honor Flight that day, and usually value my sleep between the 3-8am and the 7-11pm shifts. But, I decided that I haven’t been living enough lately, so I made the choice to skip sleep and go do something fun. I am so glad I did.

It was a perfect day at the ballpark…sunny and clear, but not too hot because our seats were in the shade! And we were right behind home plate and high enough to see everything and enjoy a breeze! We couldn’t have asked for anything more–except maybe a win for the home team!

For those of you unfamiliar with Wrigley Field, the scoreboard is the famed part of the ballpark. The board is still updated manually by actual humans who move giant number placards in place for each run. Don’t you think that would be such a fun job?

Speaking of fun jobs, I’ve always thought it would be an honor to be a part of the grounds crew at Wrigley. Yes, in reality it would be a hot job, and quite stressful having to meticulously maintain the beautiful grass and ivy…but how amazing would it be to roll out the giant tarp for a rain delay! (I also realize that the dead viola and fruitless tomato plant on my balcony makes my gardening resume less than ideal for a career in maintaining a well-known field.)

The Cubs usually have a famous person sing the 7th inning stretch. This time, it was former pitcher Steve Trout. See how close we were to the press box?

See how clear and blue the sky was? I’m so glad I chose to see it instead of sleeping the day away! When my head hit the pillow Wednesday night (or really, Thursday morning) I felt like I had soaked up every moment.

Tagged adventures, Honor Flight Chicago, summer