The Whey It Is!

So, I have this task-master type for a son, right? I allowed him to move back in with me after he got out of the Army and since then he's been great to have around the house for the most part -- but I do actually remember the quieter, less abrasive household. It was nice - - it's gone now.

At least he lets me sleep in to 7:00 a.m. before demanding that I cook up a half dozen eggs and get his protein shake going. I wouldn't ordinarily do his bidding but I'm actually helping him eat the eggs and drink the shakes now. According to my personal Jedi I have to take in about 130 grams of protein each day to build muscle so that the muscle I'm now building can burn off the fat that's been hanging out in my gut for these past few (OK many) years. He's the expert on all things protein so I tend to listen to him. He's being kind and letting me off with an even 100 grams of protein, give or take since I'm also eating almonds, peanuts, and eggs during the day. His choice of protein shake is 100% Whey something something that he picked up at GNC. Me, being the Mom that I am, I am now doing internet research for cost effective comparisons and have found the same brand, the same size, the same exact product that HE bought at GNC for $64.99, at Amazon.com for $38.99 with .99 shipping. So, for $39.98 I'm getting the EXACT same thing he's getting for more. See, he's all about the protein, I'm all about the savings. He'll come around to my way of thinking next time - - what do you want to bet? LOL

We have cookies and creme, we have chocolate, vanilla, and now strawberry swirl. I put bananas and skim milk in mine in the morning, he pours in a couple of eggs and uses water - - but he's a monster and I'm just a monster's mom trying to lose 23 pounds and tone up. I think my son thinks he's Somalian - - he's not, but I think he thinks he should be - - he's almost got the war dance down to a T. (I should YouTube it) Protein makes muscle, muscle gets ripped and repaired constantly at the gym, and then breaks down and destroys all the fat inside of me.....YEA!! Can't wait. I have simple goals -- he's helping me meet them. One squinted-eyed, overbearing barked order at a time. God, I love my son. I'll actually miss him when I move to Chicago - - he won't come visit me. I don't know what it is about Reuben and large cities, but he doesn't do them. He was afraid they'd send him to Baghdad when he deployed to Iraq -- lucky for him they had him outside the rim of what could even be considered civilization - - his F.O.B. (Forward Operating Base) was one of the most remote camps in the country - - so far out it was closer to another country. He's not much into urban living.

He's threatened to fly into Chicago and have me pick him up and take him to a football game - - those types of crowds thrill him; it's the people on the streets, the big buildings, and rushing traffic that bother the kid. He'd rather be in the country driving a tractor over miles and miles of grain, or chasing his pig around the back 40. He complained the other day that he didn't actually have a "style" so he didn't fit in with the bigger city population. I looked at him; sized up his plaid torn shirt, loose jeans, old ball cap, scuffed up boots and beard and thought out loud "No Reu, you have "style" but they call that Red-Neck." For that I was given the approval of the smile - - the awe-shucks Mom look, and then it was RIGHT back to the lifting, the curls, the cardio, and the swimming. No rest for the weary - - or the fat!

Wednesday's Child

What is it with the Woe-factor? I think about it, and I believe it goes back to what we're told. I told someone I was born on a Wednesday, and according to a little poem I must somehow be full of woe. Therefore, I eventually became full of woe, or had my fair share of them. Is it real or is it conjured? I'm not sure, but it was there! The poem is a little tattered, but it goes like this: 

 “Monday's child is fair of face. Tuesday's child is full of grace. Wednesday's child is full of woe. Thursday's child has far to go. Friday's child works hard for a living, while Saturday's child does all the giving.  Sunday's child is blessed of these, this child sees the best in threes.” 

      So, according to the poem,  poor Caity Baby and I are doomed. Reuben gives everything away, and Laura gets all that she wants in triplicate!  How unfair would that be? Laughing right now.  I think the world is everyone's marble and if we choose to play, we will be both hurt and blessed. We will learn, we will dance, we will laugh, we will cry, we will participate in just about every event and we will be that much stronger because of it. If we choose not to play, we may feel or believe we are safer than most, but in reality, the man in the cave is the one that truly suffers.  

Plato's wrote a prose about people who refused to live; it’s titled “The Cave”.   The cave was straight forward - - read it sometime, but suffice it to say that people who have ventured out from their safety zone and have seen the unforgiving, harsh, and true illumination of life (the light) have a much more difficult time returning to the darkness or even the safety of a cave that holds no adventure. Full of woe? No. I'm going to choose to say full of experience. Full of life. Full of do-it. Full of being! This awakening is nothing short of miraculous if you have it in you to reflect both honestly and with a big enough light to see all the ugly cob-webbed corners of your life. Giving up anything, and any thing that is negative in order to break out of the pattern of a spinning downward spiral is not only necessary it is essential for upward movement - - growth.  

One of the things I decided, and yes, I do mean decided to do many years back is to choose to smile. Choose to be joyful. Choose to reroute my thinking. Choose to think before I ask, and choose to ask with more heart and more insight rather than just asking for the sake of asking. An example would be: a person you know who is really mad about something, puts their fist through a sheet drywall and comes to you bleeding. You don't have to ask "What did you do?".  You know they were somehow injured; a better question, a more productive question would be, "How can I help you?" followed by "You must be really upset about something to do something this drastic." The words, though hard to spit out in a moment of confusion for your friend, are the choice that you make to communicate positively rather than to criticize and add more negative input to the situation. 

 Think first. Thinking, giving thought, making an image in your mind really does set the wheels of creation into motion for your moment. You only have the moment. You are not guaranteed the next, and the last moment - - is gone. Plan, yes, by all means make plans, but do so with deliberate thought. Wednesdays can be really cool too you know; Caity was born on a Wednesday, and that was a super happy moment in my life. She came out utterly blue, with the cord wrapped around her neck, and I watched out of the corner of my eye as the frantic nurses were pushing, pumping, and prodding her to breathe after the cord was removed. I remember praying and I remember saying her name over and over in my head - - she would live, she would live, I repeated.  God was great, and my baby survived. Wednesdays don’t have stay bad even if they start out that way sometimes. BREATHE! Take the cord off your proverbial neck and push yourself until you can breathe! 

Positive isn’t always easy, but it is always a better choice than being sour-faced negative all the time.  Since I began openly ad willfully being positive, I can say I’ve made a few people both uncomfortable and pissy – not everyone wants to see a smile every time that look ove at you; but why not make it your choice, not theirs.  Be the light, be the change, be the energy you need to get yourself motivated and moving, and you’ll move and motivate others along the way. My little blue Smurf-baby grew up both independent and strong from the beginning. She’s passing those traits on to her own daughter Sailor Ellis Jayne, and let me tell you, there couldn’t be a more positive light shining in our lives than that little girl. Beam on!

Brody Needs a Home

LOOK AT HIM!! We named him Sir Henry Wallace Broderick, but we call him Brody. Brody came to our family about 3 months ago as a rescue from an irresponsible breeder. He's a full blooded Jack Russell Terrier, but we believe he may have been somewhat inbred. He does not respond or react as rambunctious as a typical JRT. He's so very kind, so very gentle, and rarely chews on anything! That's just not typical for a JRT, but it is GREAT news for anyone wanting to adopt him.

Brody came from a litter of 8 and was the biggest of the bunch. His sister Teagan (the yellow and white dog) is 8.5 pounds to Brody's 12. There were NO other dogs in the home or yard, so we have to assume he is from the same father and mother dog that were used over and over again to breed.

Brody was given to a young girl in this part of Oklahoma but she didn't get permission from her parents to keep him. She left him with me to foster and to find a good home. We've been feeding him Precise dog food and have gotten him 2 of the 3 shots he needs for rabies and parvo. He could also use a neutering. He's right at 6 months old now, and completely healthy and happy. He plays, runs, jumps, loves, and just steals your heart. He hasn't learned to go outside 100% yet, but he's working hard at it. He sleeps with you, and he is a definite lap dog. His coat is thick and the markings, as you can see, are amazing.

Brody has been raised with other dogs and cats. He has been roughed up by kids, and loves to play! He has never bitten or snarled, and he's staring at me right now because he knows I'm talking about him. He's pretty smart.

We have an interview process, and you would be responsible to come get him or pay for his journey to you if you were outside of Southern Oklahoma. We're willing to find him the best home possible, and hope that could be YOU. Please write to me at: jude.stringfellow@gmail.com or call my cell at 405 251-0210 if you're interested in giving Brody a forever home.

Jude

54 Degrees and Falling - - INSIDE

That's right, I woke up to a house that was 54 degrees Fahrenheit! OMG - - I realize it's freaking cold outside; (about 20) that's why I let the pipes stay open a bit. It didn't matter that I did, the water in those pipes froze anyway and now as of 9:00 p.m. we have no heat and we have no water. The heating issue is being taken care of; there's a man in my attic now looking at the LACK of insulation. I wondered why my electricity bill was out of world, and now I know. The VERY good news is that I'll be able to negotiate with my landlord over the issue. The VERY bad news is that I don't know that the man in my attic will be able to do anything tonight. Oh well, we have six dogs...3.5 if you add them all up into one big ball of dog and sleep with them. King helps out, he's an even 100 pounds, but Teagan, who is on the other side of the weight issue, only tops the scales at 8.7 pounds. She's virtually worthless and has thin short hair -- she's got to go! LOL

The water became a problem early on as one would imagine. It didn't matter, I said to myself this is a good day and I'm going to be happy anyway! I stuck to it, and I'm happy. I'm waterless, and I'm wearing 3 sweaters and 4 pairs of socks; 3 on my feet and one on my hands, but I'm happy!! If my fingers miss the keys while I'm typing this you'll understand. Thank God for spell check. (Or as it looked before I used spell check: thkgiuyl sgo forh dusghte cke.)

The man in my attic tells me that the people who bought the house should have put insulation up in the attic before renting it. He's right. After all, we need insulation for the air conditioning too. My electric bills have been higher than they should have been all along - - negotiate, negotiate, negotiate. That's my middle name tomorrow!

I went to the gym to take a shower today and to use the facilities for other purposes. I also found myself looking at the inside of the bathroom stalls at Lowes and Starbucks. I hope the exterior heat (God's work) becomes a bit warmer soon so that I'm not standing in line both at the bathroom and to buy coffee...I'm not sure which I would actually find more important. That's really sad when you think about it. I bought an AC filter at Lowes today - - figured that may have had something to do with the air not coming through the house - - it didn't, but still I needed a new filter. I like it when I learn new things so buying the filter was great. I found out that 24x24x1 inch filters are uncommon, they're more expensive, and come in 2 brands where as the longer filters can be purchased anywhere for less but hey MY filter can be put in from either side! It's square! Somehow that made me feel good. I don't know why.

My daughter was so amazingly cute when she said "Oh hey, I bet if we wanted to we could make one of these." I don't really know what we would start with, or how we could fold it, wire it up, border it with the right size of cardboard, or even make it fit, but it was a great idea for a summertime project maybe. I say summertime because I'll be living in Chicago by then and can call her to see how she's coming along with that process. She really is cute sometimes.

I just heard the man in the attic - - sounded as if he was about to fall through the living room. The thought occured to me that he's probably frozen. I could probably offer him something to drink - - but that would mean driving to Starbucks again. Oh well, this is a great day and I'm going to smile about it. WHY? The man in the attic is actually rather cute! My imagination is simply popping at this point! LOL

"REUBEN" Translated : "Surprise!"

There he is - - just another great kid, an American soldier and.... apparently a criminal. (LOL) For the past few days our family has been enjoying the return of my first born, my son Reuben. Reuben was in the U.S. Army for about 3.5 years and spent a year in Iraq - - with what I may say, a great level of success according to his "war stories". I'm sure I need to record them now as they will no doubt grow and become rather exaggerated as time goes by. (Actually I look forward to that, my Grandpa had the wildest stories of when he served in the Big War of 1918. It was many years before I found out he was never in that war! LOVE that man.) 

 Here's another good Reuben story for Aunt Tammie! Just before he was to come home on January 1, 2010 -- JUST BEFORE he was to get on the plane and come home to his MOTHER, my son was arrested or at least he was detained. Here's the story: It was New Year's Eve and he had just celebrated the beginning of the brand new year, ringing it in with his good friend Chelsea at her family's home. They were kind enough to let Reuben drive their car to the airport or wherever it was he needed to go to get to the airport, but the CAR was missing a tail light. Reuben didn't know the car was missing a tail light - - but the officer thought it was important. Coupled with the fact that the car's license plate was partially covered in snow, the officer couldn't make a clear decision about the car and decided to pull the driver over. This particular moment was interesting in and of itself. Reuben said he was thinking "NO! No! I'm about to fly out of this place! NO way he's stopping me. I wasn't drinking, I'm not speeding!" Reuben rolled down the window and presented his military license to the officer who asked him about his state license.

 Reuben is from the Sooner state, so he pulled that license out and handed it over as well. A few minutes passed and Reuben was asked to step out of the car for what he was certain would be a passable sobriety test - - it wasn't. The officer quickly hand-cuffed the boy and had his friend's mother's car impounded. Fun times! While waiting in the backseat of the cop's car Reuben found out that his Oklahoma (Go Sooners) license had been suspended for non-insurance. HELLO - - he has been in the ARMY for 3.5 years. Surely someone figured that out when they went to renew and couldn't reach him. NOPE - - in Oklahoma if you don't HAVE insurance you get your license suspended. It happened to me once when I switched from Progressive to State Farm. Progressive didn't bother mentioning to the State Departments that I had simply dropped them, they told them I was no longer insured. I WAS insured but not with Progressive. Apparently it is MY job to tell the State Department of Public Safety when I switch insurance companies. REUBEN was in the ARMY. The fact should have been registered somewhere - - and it was, but the State Department of Public Safety doesn't really care. It was 4:10 a.m. my time, and 1:10 a.m. his time. He was to be up and at the airport in 4 hours but was stuck - literally stuck, to a bench in a Fairbanks, Alaska police precinct for having a suspended Oklahoma license for non-insurance. This too should pass - - but would it pass quickly enough for the boy to make his 6:50 flight out of the great frontier and back home to his mom who was laying in bed minding her own business remembering how very lucky she was to be leaving the GREAT state of Oklahoma soon - - Go Sooners.

I can say that much for our state...GO SOONERS! I won't go so far as to say I admire the laws or the procedures in the big offices downtown or on the Capitol's grounds. There are many issues to address in the Oklahoma legislature. ONE WOULD THINK that if a man or woman could show evidence that they stood in Iraq or Afghanistan for about a year holding a gun to protect the state's citizens that a waiver would be in place if they just happened to NOT tell said state they were going off to protect said state! BUT no....$350 to reinstate the said state's license. Is that fair? I don't think so. (maybe they found out my son likes to go curling. I'd charge someone extra if I found that out) It took just under 5 hours to process my son. He was released and someone, someone very sweet and kind, drove him to the airport where he was LITERALLY the last person to board the plane, and then only after they were announcing his name for the very last time before considering him a no-show. THANK YOU Jesus - - and very sweet person who drove him to the airport. HOMEWARD BOUND...and determined to follow his mom in a few years and move to a state with a bit less rigid rules and regulations. One that perhaps allows you to buy wine in the grocery store. Oh, wait, you didn't know that about Oklahoma? Well, all I can say is - - we have a HELLUVA football team!! ONE HELLUVA football team down in Norman! Go Sooners!

HIIT Me! (H.I.I.T. Highly Intense Interval Training)

Oh, you don't know about H.I.I.T.? Well, don't feel badly, I just found out and I'm 48. Highly Intense Interval Training is simply this: specific exercises using greater weight than you are use to using. The idea (simplified) is to use the weight training specifically targeted to build certain muscle groups, i.e. the arms, the legs, the butt, the gut. (Can you tell I'm not an expert?) Now, I'm not a fitness trainer, I'm not a medical doctor, and I don't have all the answers, but it seems to me that if the U.S. Army can do this type of fast and furious training and get the results they've been getting -- I should at least give it a try.

Here's what I know: I go to a gym and I noticed a guy doing extreme weight training for a very short period of time. He didn't come back the next day, but he did come back the day after that. I asked him about it. I asked him why he did a 15-20 minute work out with heavy weights and lots of reps, and why he lowered the weight amount after the three set. He said it was the H.I.I.T. method and he said he felt kind of funny talking about it because there was a time that he was fired for telling someone about it.

See, the H.I.T.T. method has been used for years by professional and college athletes and the trainers in these professional and college level gyms are all but sworn to secrecy about it, or so he said they were. He told me that as a professional trainer in L.A. for 2 years he saw many people's lives changed by the method and he wanted to share this style of exercise and program so that others could lose more weight, burn more fat, and become healthier than they have ever been. His boss had other plans. By leaking out the secrets of the high-paying mega bodied celebrities and athletes to the common man/woman it put the gym at jeopardy. If someone loses the weight faster than usual they may leave the gym and there goes the mainstay of the facility. The celebrities and athletes were pulls, draws for clients to keep paying, but the trainers knew they had limited time with these people. The regular clients were told that steady 30-60-90 minute work outs with treadmills, bikes, laps, and crunches or classes were best for them.

Jake, the ex-trainer and now buddy told me that he's kept his weight down to what it is by using the H.I.T.T. method, and that he's shared the training program with about 10-15 of his friends who have kept their weight down and bodies in toned shape for years - but that telling the average person is hard because of all the things we've been told in the past. Sometimes people just don't believe that 15-20 minutes 3 times a week is all you need. But the physics prove it is.

I looked it up - - studied it and now am about to employ it. I encourage you to do the same. NOW, if you're one that HAS to have a book to look at, there is an e-book by a couple called the "15-Minute Fat Furnace" and you can download it for about $5.00. I just prefer doing the study myself and talking to Jake who I think I can trust - - at least I can physically see with my eyes that he's in shape; I have to trust what he says is true.

For 5 minutes you use as much weight as you can handle for a certain group of muscles. Let's say we're doing upper body today. Do the chest first, all the machines you can with as much weight as you can take for 20 second reps. Fast and hard reps for 20 seconds and then rest. Change machines during the 5 minutes is OK if you want to, but keep the area of the muscles focused. Rest between machines for about 30 seconds. 2 or 3 reps should do it per machine. Then target the arms for the next 5 minutes - again with as much weight as possible. Rep. rest. rep. rest. The last 5 minutes is done at a medium weight level and slower reps. It's sort of a cool down period. Again, focus on the chest for 5 minutes, and then the arms for 5 minutes. It takes 20 minutes total.

OK....and this is REALLY important. Shower. Take a shower or soak in the hot tub for a while to get the muscles loosened up. Over the next 24 hours your body will be screaming at you - literally shaken by the intense work you put it through, but that's OK. The nostrils and mouth are bringing in so much more oxygen than they normally bring in and you're body is burning so much more fat because of it. In most cases (I read) 9 times as much fat!

This workout is done 3-4 times a week. One day you focus on the top part of your body, the next time the lower half. Oh, and you have to eat sensibly. You know how to eat correctly, just do what you know to do and do it early enough. If you have to eat later in the evening eat fruits and vegetables or nuts. The H.I.I.T. method is real, and I can't believe I didn't know about it before; but I didn't. I do now, and I think I'll keep a journal to see the dramatic difference. Wish me good work, luck will have nothing to do with it.

The BEST Year! 2010

Some people eat black-eyed peas and cornbread for good luck on January 1, but I plan on doing something FAR more productive. I'm going to pray and thank God for the gift of allowing me to receive my son Reuben back from his 3.5 years in the United States Army. WHAT a better way to start off an amazing year? God is GREAT.

When I heard Reuben was going to be coming home for Christmas I was really excited. I thought to myself "Oh, the perfect Christmas miracle story ever!" My son would be coming home on Faith's 7th birthday, and she would be so unaware until she saw him and then go crazy in the baggage department at the airport when she realized it was him. Oh, it was going to truly be the moment of a lifetime...but the Army changed their minds. They recalculated my son's departure date and set it back to January 1,2010. Of course I felt deflated at the news - - but then I realized that if he was coming home on the VERY first day of the new year then the new year must be so much better than the closing of this past year!

OK, it's all in how you look at life, right? Take a lemon and turn it into lemonade as they say - - just decide to see the bright side, decide to see the light! My son is coming home on the first day of a year that is destined to be so very amazing. My book is going to be picked up by a publisher. Anthony Tortoriello and I are going to do a children's book! My daughters will be employed full time. My son will attend college and play ball. The Faith Train is pulling out of more and more stations! Cher Marketing is going to sell lots and lots of Faith-inspired gear and we can help animal shelters like C.A.R.E. and the Michigan rescue groups that Norma backs. My daughters will enroll in college and probably NOT play ball - - which is a good thing really. I'll be moving to Chicago to write! I'll be carless and kidless and have only one dog (Faith). I'm going to meet friends in person who I've only been acquainted with online. I'll be working with people who I both admire and love...this is going to be a banner year. THANK YOU Jesus for holding Reuben's arrival. WOW - - who would have thought?

So, this having been a great and educational year, I am looking forward to the new one with the surprises, the gifts, the laughs, the soldiers, the work, the books, the move, the kids, the man....EVERYTHING. I may even get a new turtle this summer for keeps...you just never know what a girl has planned for a great and new start from a great and new year.

Viva La Life! Choose wisely!

After Christmas Promises to Myself

I do it every year and actually, to be honest, I've kept my word! I bought myself a great recumbent bike last year and I ride it all the time. I'm taking it further this year and getting myself into the gym on a daily basis. I wanted to get a few pounds off before I actually started the hard-core training. One thing I don't want for myself is to have muscles sitting on top of fat cells. The plan to remove the fat surgically hasn't changed - - but I can at least get as much of it off as I can on my own (or with the help of Ug-Man the trainer) and then go under the knife.

I'm in a bit of a situation here - - currently I live in a small town in Oklahoma, where the gym is nicely priced, I can get to it easily, work out daily, and have the best of the best with regard to personal trainers because they have more equipment and more team members than the average big city facility. However, the problem is that I'll be moving to Chicago soon and live in a glorious downtown condo with a fitness center on a certain floor but without trainers and I'll have to work out my schedule to avoid the uppy-yuppies that parade around so wonderfully in brightly plumed outfits that fit just a bit better than my own.

When I do move I hope I at least have a shot at fitting in - - and by fitting in I am referring to the Spandex. At this point I have 23 pounds to go. I know I can muster the will, strength, and persistence to carve about 11 off before the doctors carve off the rest. When we're all (all of us) finished I should be a well-rounded, and/or curvy size 9 body standing 5'7". Nope, not going for the wispy look. Not going for the run-way model -- just me a little smaller here, a little flatter there, and by all means a LOT flatter UP there. Anyone want an extra pair of boobies just let me know, I plan on leaving 1/2 of mine behind....thank you 2010! This is going to be the year of change.

Promises, promises, promises. I trust me, and when I say something I mean it. If I promise myself I'll do it then by golly and all things holy I'll do it. This will be the year of persistent health, better eating, more salads, less meat (if that's possible) and more and more and more attention to the smile. Don't be surprised if in the future you encounter a metal-mouthed, red-headed, Jude walking right up to you and smiling big enough for you to see the wires! If I'm paying for them you're going to look at them. It's MY turn, thank you very much, and this is the year the girl gets an overhaul - - I don't mind the sweating if you don't.

Santa in Baghdad - Merry Christmas

The red glow was unmistakeable. 

 The young soldier saw him coming from the air and warned the others - - his eyes couldn't believe what he was witnessing first-hand. It wasn't a missle, it wasn't an air assault of any kind. It was a sled, a very large sled, pulled by 9 furry reindeer; the first with a signature red-nose. The light from Rudolph's nose blasting through the Middle-Eastern fog...just before midnight. As the soldiers came out of their make-shift barracks to greet the old man they did something they never do - - they put down their weapons. There was absolutely no threat here. 

 Hooves landed softly on the sand, clattering and tearing at the soil as Santa called for them to halt. This visit was one of his last of the very long night now behind him. From their vantage point they could see that there were no presents in the sleigh for them, but then again, they knew each one of them were a little too old to expect anything from Santa - - but still there he was. 

 One of the soldiers that approached the slick red sleigh was a woman; a Spc. infact, Ali Hargis of Ardmore, OK. She smiled as she reached to hug the old man - - and he accepted her. As he drew her close to squeeze her tight others wondered why she had been chosen, and how she knew instinctively to go to him. It wasn't magic, not really. Ali's little brother Rocky had just recieved HIS gift from St. Nick. He wanted to wish his big sister, his hero, a Merry Christmas. Santa and Rocky were Facebook friends. Of course he would know where she was. Santa stood before a hundred or more soldiers - - and he did something he doesn't usually do. Santa cried.

 As he stood perfectly still in the dead of the night, a sense of unspeakable awe surrounded every one of them. Before he turned to continue his long and wonderful journey around the world Santa paused. With his chin held up just a little higher, and his lips trembling ever so slightly, the old man's right hand came up as he addressed the soldiers perfectly - - with a salute. "Gentlemen, Ladies" he whispered, "Thank you so very much. Thank you." Not another word was spoken. How could it be? As the reindeer bowed their heads to show honor and respect Santa jiggled the reins twice. It was then that the silence was broken, and as if in unison the soldiers waved and called out "Merry Christmas Santa!" and with that, the soldiers picked up their weapons again and continued doing what they do - - it's my turn now to say it. THANK YOU. Thank you so very very much!