How to Welcome Your Beloved Soldier Home and Adjust to Life Together Again

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Laura anxiously anticipates the return of her husband Dan. What will it be like and what should she do? After all, he is not returning from a successful business trip or golf weekend. He is coming back from war. Should she arrange a romantic just-for-the-two-of-us event or a family reunion? This is the first homecoming experience in their young marriage. It has been over a year since Dan left. Little Maja was born 3 months ago and Dan has yet to meet his new baby girl. Laura, once shy, dependent and overweight turned into self-reliant and confident woman. She joined the gym, lost weight and signed up for computer classes. Even though Laura missed Dan terribly, she adapted to being a military wife. They had kept each other up to date through e-mail and phone calls. Dan will be surprised to find how much has changed since he left. Click here to read more...

National Guard readiness eroded by Iraq: report

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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. National Guard units are under-equipped and increasingly unready to help in domestic disaster relief because essential gear is left behind after service in Iraq and Afghanistan, a congressional report said on Thursday.

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A Christian Soldier's View on the War in Iraq

A View from a Christian Soldier
Written by one of our member's husbands.

Walmart.com offers shipping to APO for military for Holidays

APO/FPO Shipping

At Walmart.com, you'll find thousands of gifts and useful items for family and friends with APO/FPO addresses. Choose from portable audio electronics, top toys, video games, movies and music.

You'll also find photo cards for your favorite memories, gift baskets filled with the flavors of home, personalized military rings, shopping cards, phone cards and so much more.

Tips for Sending Gifts

• We cannot send some items to APO/FPO addresses. This is usually noted when you click "See estimated arrival date" on the item page.
• See important APO/FPO shipping details

Walmart.com sends warmest holiday wishes to you and your loved ones.

Fall Cleaning Chore Checklist

Fall Cleaning Chore Checklist
by Cynthia Townley Ewer
Editor, OrganizedHome.Com

It's Autumn. Pumpkins glow in golden fields. Shorter days, crisp mornings signal winter's approach. Can the holidays be far behind?

Use Autumn's brisk and breezy days to conquer deep-cleaning chores for aclean and comfortable winter home.

out and about:

Time to come inside for winter! Outside the house, tend to these autumn chores:

• Clean and store patio furniture, umbrellas, children's summer toys.
• Touch up paint on trim, railings and decks. Use a wire brush to remove flaking paint; prime bare wood first.
• Check caulk around windows and doors. Follow manufacturer's recommendations to re-caulk if needed.
• Inspect external doors and garage doors. Do they close tightly? Install weather-stripping, door thresholds if needed.
• Wash exterior windows.
• Drain and store garden hoses. Install insulating covers on exterior spigots. In hard-freeze areas, have sprinkler systems blown free of water.
• Check gutters and downspouts. Clear of debris if necessary. In cold-weather areas, consider installing heating cable to prevent ice dams.
• Have chimneys and flues inspected and cleaned if necessary.

the inside story:

Autumn's the time for "spring cleaning". Deep clean now to take advantage of good weather. Face the coming of winter and the approaching holidays with a clean and comfortable home.

Learn how to clean efficiently! Check our Clean Sweep Guide for more information on how to clean fast and furious.

• Focus on public rooms: living room, family room, entryway, guest bath.
• Clean from top to bottom. Vacuum drapes and window treatments. Clean window sills and window wells. Vacuum baseboards andcorners.
• Vacuum upholstered furniture, or have professionally cleaned if needed. Move furniture and vacuum beneath and behind it.
• Wash interior windows.
• Turn mattresses front-to-back and end-to-end to equalize wear.
• Launder or clean all bedding: mattress pads, pillows, duvets, blankets, comforters. Tuck the family into a warm and cozy winter bed.
• Schedule professional carpet cleaning early this month! Warm October afternoons speed carpet drying. Carpet cleaning firms get busy by the end of October, so schedule now for best service.
• Prepare the kitchen for holiday cooking. Clean and organized kitchen cabinets, paying particular attention to baking supplies, pans and equipment.
• Clear kitchen counters of all appliances not used within the last week. Clear counters look cleaner--and provide more room for holiday cooking.
• Pull refrigerator away from the wall, and vacuum the condenser coils. For bottom-mounted coils, use a long, narrow brush to clean coils of dust and debris.
• Wash light-diffusing bowls from light fixtures.
• Inspect each appliance. Does it need supplies? Stock up on softener salt now, and avoid staggering over icy sidewalks with heavy bags.
• Check and empty the central vacuum's collection area.
• Clean electronic air cleaner elements monthly for most efficient operation. Wash them in an empty dishwasher (consult manual for specific product recommendations).
• Clean or replace humidifier elements before the heating season begins.
• Inspect washer hoses for bulges, cracks or splits. Replace them every other year.
• Check dryer exhaust tube and vent for built-up lint, debris or birds' nests! Make sure the exterior vent door closes tightly when not in use.
• Schedule fall furnace inspections now. Don't wait for the first cold night!
• Buy a winter's supply of furnace filters. Change filters monthly for maximum energy savings and indoor comfort. When the right filter is on hand, it's an easy job!
• Drain sediment from hot water heaters.

Bush Considers Military Role in Flu Fight

Bush Considers Military Role in Flu Fight
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Oct 4, 12:38 PM (ET)

By JENNIFER LOVEN

(AP) President Bush speaks to reporters in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, Tuesday,... Full Image

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush, increasingly concerned about a possible avian flu pandemic, revealed Tuesday that any part of the country where the virus breaks out could likely be quarantined and that he is considering using the military to enforce it.

"The best way to deal with a pandemic is to isolate it and keep it isolated in the region in which it begins," he said during a wide-ranging Rose Garden news conference.

The president was asked if his recent talk of giving the military the lead in responding to large natural disasters such as Hurricane Katrina and other catastrophes was in part the result of his concerns that state and local personnel aren't up to the task of a flu outbreak.

"Yes," he replied.

After the bungled initial federal response to Katrina, Bush suggested putting the Pentagon in charge of search-and-rescue efforts in times of a major terrorist attack or similarly catastrophic natural disaster. He has argued that the armed forces have the ability to quickly mobilize the equipment, manpower and communications capabilities needed in times of crisis.

But such a shift could require a change in law, and some in Congress and the states worry it would increase the power of the federal government at the expense of local control.

Bush made clear that the potential for an outbreak of avian flu is much on his mind, and has him talking with "as many (world) leaders as I could find" and reading a book on the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic that killed 40 million and consulting staff and experts.

"I have thought through the scenarios of what an avian flu outbreak could mean," he said.

He acknowledged that a quarantine - an idea sure to alarm many in the public - is no small thing for the government to undertake and that enforcing it would be tricky.

"It's one thing to shut down airplanes," Bush said. "It's another thing to prevent people from coming in to get exposed to the avian flu."

He urged Congress to give him the ability to use the military, if needed.

"I think the president ought to have all ... assets on the table to be able to deal with something this significant," he said.

Bush also said he has been urging world leaders to improve reporting on outbreaks of the virus, and exploring how to speed the production of a spray, now in limited supply, that "can maybe help arrest the spread of the disease."

"One of the issues is how do we encourage the manufacturing capacity of the country, and maybe the world, to be prepared to deal with the outbreak of a pandemic?" he said.

Experts agree there will certainly be another flu pandemic - a new human flu strain that goes global. However, it is unknown when or how bad that global epidemic will be - or whether the H5N1 bird flu strain now circulating in Asian poultry will be its origin.

Just in case, experts are tracking the avian flu, which has swept through poultry populations in large swaths of Asia since 2003, jumped to humans and killed at least 65 people.

Most human cases have been linked to a contact with sick birds, but the World Health Organization has warned the virus could mutate into a form that spreads easily among humans - changing it from a bird virus to a human pandemic flu strain.