Career Dreams and Memorial Day - What A Combo! LOL

I'm running a little late today, and DH is running early, so we're intersecting in the early morning, which is rare. It does make for an "interesting" morning routine, i.e., my "normal" routine is totally scrapped. So, I'm getting in my blog post, but it's a bit hurried because I'm actually running late. 

When you were young, what were your dreams? Did you 
want to be a ballerina? A concert musician? A chef? Share 
below. Let's all see how our lives could have been. 

It's the last work day of the week, and then we enter into the Memorial Day Holiday weekend, so I'll have both Sunday and Monday off and won't be posting again until Tuesday morning. We'll be heading north to my oldest grand-niece's home for a Memorial Day picnic with the family. That'll be lots of kids running around the backyard with the dog (or maybe dogs), and hopefully some sunshine and relaxation while I ignore the kids. I'm pretty good at that. I can be a good Auntie when needed, but that's to my sister-in-law's kids, not the kids of the kids. Things start getting too complicated then - just too many people and too many high-pitched voices for my comfort levels. 

When we're young, we're presented with the idea that any 
career is achievable. Of course, that's ridiculous. If a person 
is tone deaf, there's little chance they will become a 
concert musician, for example. 

There are many reasons why I never wanted to become a parent, but at the top of the list is the same reason I never wanted to become a teacher (at least in any grade less than college level) - I'm simply not fond of kids. I admire people who love and want kids. I really do. Their patience levels are far better than mine, and they're probably far less self-centered than I am. I do know my faults - there are many. I don't consider my inability to gush over kids to be a fault as much as something that I think is in my DNA. I never wanted kids - ever. Having a family other than a companion of a similar age to myself was never something I envisioned, and teaching at the pre-school, elementary, or Middle School level was also out of the realm of my reality. 

When you're a kid, the world of career choices is 
wide open for you. As you grow older, reality 
comes crashing in. Talent, education, desire and 
ability all come into play. I'd say that many of us 
ended up in careers we never thought about seriously. 

So that brings me to a question. When you were young, what did you envision your life would be like? Did you want to be a teacher, an astronaut, a scientist, a partner to another person or at the head of a firm? Or did you just want to be in a studio creating something wonderful, interact with people through music you created, or act on the stage or on film? We all had dreams of what our future lives would be like before the details of education, talent and funds came into play. What were your dreams? If you feel comfortable sharing, please comment. I might not get to answering until Tuesday, but I'll answer every comment, I promise. 

Have a good Memorial Day in the USA on Monday. Remember 
and honor those who served and are no longer with us. Without 
their sacrifice, the world would be a poorer place in which to live. 

Have a great Memorial Day weekend and I'll be back on Tuesday. Slava Ukraini. 

It Was Wonderful To Be Back at the State Fair - A Photo Blog

Sunday was a bit cold, a bit rainy, and a lot Fair - State Fair, that is! We bundled up in layers (DH didn't put on enough layers, he was cold and rather silly because he decided against a jacket). We grabbed umbrellas which I stashed in my backpack to be used as needed, and we headed for the Fairgrounds. We didn't leave quite as early as I wanted, but we still got a prime parking spot in the Transit Center lot near the entry gate. I dropped off my donations for the clothing charity (gathering essentials for the homeless) and after Chickie drove up, we met up with her and stood in line with our tickets. Here's a photo blog of our day and Sharon ... we REALLY missed you!!! 

When we walk through the entry in the summer, this 
area is filled with plants and flowers, a bright start to the 
day's activities. Now it's empty, waiting for the plants 
to come, and the flags were at half-staff for the Memorial 
Day Holiday. 

Here I am, all bundled up, next to Babe, the 
Blue Ox. If you're not familiar with the character, 
Google "Paul Bunyan and Babe the Blue Ox" 
for details. It's a part of Minnesota folk history. 
As you can tell (or not), I'm wearing a Denver 
Broncos sweatshirt and jacket, I also have a 
Broncos pin on my hat, and my backpack is 
a Broncos backpack. Oh, and that's a Loon 
peering up from behind my shoulder - the 
Loon is the state bird of Minnesota. 

Chickie saw this NUTS display next to the Grandstand,
and told me to stand there for a photo. Perhaps she was 
implying something? LOL

I decided to start my food out with something I knew
 would be good for me to eat - a grilled chicken breast 
sandwich without the bun. I put some mustard on 
the chicken and it was really good. Beautifully cooked. 

We were dealing with rain on and off throughout the 
day, but it really hit about 11:00 am or so. Good thing 
we all had our umbrellas! 

This picture is for you, Sharon. While getting my chicken 
sandwich at Coasters, I looked across the street at the 
"Mighty Midway", which looked like this - a large tent 
with tables for people to sit at, and basically nothing else. 
Such a strange thing to look at after the many years of 
music, games and screams from riders at the carnival. 

The next thing I ate was NOT on my approved list, or any 
planned list on my part. It was a strawberry/rhubarb 
crisp with a gluten-free whole wheat crumble. It was 
outstanding - very sweet, but really enjoyable. It's probably 
a good portion of why I'm up 3-12 pounds today (the 
next thing I ate is probably the other reason), but I'm right
back to WildFit today and the weight will be
off in a few days. 

The Giant Eggroll on a stick was actually pretty tasty, but 
having now had one, I'm not sure I'd bother with it again. 
DH had one also, and he seemed to enjoy it, but I don't 
think either of us would bother to buy another one. 

After our rhubarb crisp, we were heading back towards the mini-donuts for DH when I heard people behind me squealing "There she is! It's the Broncos girl!" When I turned around, a young woman was beside herself, saying her brother was a HUGE Broncos fan and asking if she could take my photo. "Sure," I agreed as she called up her brother who was a bit younger than I and was wearing a CU Buffalos sweatshirt. They had seen me walking from my car, and had seen my Broncos Fangirl licence plate frame on Minion, and had hoped to run into me. And they did, at Dino's Gyros. We had a nice chat about Colorado and Broncos Country, then went our separate ways. I guess I'm a mini-celebrity and I've now had my 6-seconds of fame - LOL. 

My Monday was a bit more mundane but the day was lovely, sunny and warm, so we had drinks on the patio and DH grilled steaks for dinner. I guess we should have chosen tickets for Memorial Day, but that's OK. It might have been a dreary, cold and rainy day at the State Fair, but we were at the Fair! It made my heart sing to be back there again. 

Have an excellent day, I'll be back tomorrow. And, as always, please be kind and stay safe. 

 

I Make A Horrible Tree, and Cow, Cat and Cobra - Forget About Downward Dog

I'm not a very good tree. Or, for that matter, a cow or a cat or even a cobra. In an attempt to amp up my physical conditioning I had decided to stream some beginning yoga classes and give it a try. After all, it looks relatively easy, and it's supposed to be good for you. Right? My YMCA has virtual classes stored on-line, so I chose a nighttime yoga class directed at beginners. The instructor said she was going to take things a bit slow since it was a night class - forty-five minutes of relaxed movements. I was OK with that idea. I did fine during the breathing part, and my first moves of cow and cat and even downward dog were fine, but then she repeated things and then she repeated again, and I was supposed to move a foot closer to my hands while in downward dog, ... and it didn't move at all. At least it didn't with any facsimile of grace. 

The class had us going back to downward 
dog time after time. After the fourth 
time or so, my body said "Nope" and 
I collapsed on my yoga mat. Not the 
most auspicious start - LOL. 

But I did moved it clumsily, and caught up again. The next grouping of movements had us starting in the cobra position. The first round I didn't get my arms right and my back was saying "Why are you bending me in this odd direction". On the second round, my arms managed to get to the correct extended position, but then we were supposed to push up into the downward dog position yet again. Nope, didn't happen. And once I was finally into the downward dog, we were supposed to raise each leg into a higher position. That didn't work well for me either. 

At last we were supposed to stand. Hallelujah - I could stand on two feet. Except, now I was supposed to be a tree. I barely did OK with my right leg being the roots (my left foot braced against my ankle), but when it came to switching sides, I couldn't keep my balance on my left leg at all, and my right foot couldn't move off the floor because having it braced against my ankle was necessary for my balance. Doing the tree was utter disaster. 

I was attempting the very first pose - 
standing on one leg - my roots firmly 
planted, with my other foot resting 
against my ankle. That didn't go so well. 
My balance wasn't there at all. Can it 
get there with practice? Possibly. I'm 
not calling this experiment done, just 
not successful this time. 

I looked at the screen and only 18 minutes of the planned 45 minutes had passed. Damn, I was failing my attempt at a BEGINNER'S level course for relaxation, I said to myself: "Self ... there's got to be something else". I exited that video and did a search for beginning yoga, finding chair yoga for seniors. "I'm a senior," I thought to myself, "and I have a chair right over there, near my sewing table. Maybe I can manage this one." I grabbed the chair and pulled it over and started the video. I actually made it through the entire exercise, not necessarily super smoothly, but I made it. Hallelujah - I'm not totally hopeless. But I have a long way to go before I allow myself to attend a yoga class in person. 

At last, a yoga routine I was successful at. I found a 
You-Tube video of chair yoga for seniors and was 
able to get through a full routine of stretches, etc while 
seated in a chair. The chair took care of the balance 
problems I was having in more traditional yoga. I'm 
not calling this quits, though. I want better control over 
my body, and that means yoga. Nothing else teaches 
muscle control as well. 

So, OK. Yoga isn't going to be one of those things I can just jump into. I'm going to continue to work on it, though. I like the idea of getting more control of my muscles and tuning them up individually so that they'll work better as a whole. 

I'm delighted with my license plate frame. I now 
can proclaim that I'm a "BRONCOS FANGIRL" to the 
world - if they didn't already get the message 
from my Broncos Logo on the left. On the right
is my Minnesota Wild logo. Unfortunately, we lost to
Las Vegas  in a "must win" game last night, and
are now out of contention for the Stanley Cup.
So disappointing. 

On the car front - I had the car at the repair place at 7:00 am and was the first person checked in. Unfortunately, both of the screws snapped off when they attempted to remove them. Not really a surprise. They drove me home since it would be a couple of hours before it would be ready (their COVID regulations won't allow people in their waiting room for more than 30 minutes at a time). But when they called at 10:30 am to tell me it was ready, he said they were swamped and didn't have anyone available to pick me up. I could have called DH. He would have left work and picked me up to drive me over. Instead, I Google-mapped it and it was only a bit more than 2 miles from my house, so I decided to walk over. It was a beautiful day with blue skies, but also with a brisk breeze, so a little cold. I put on my leather bomber jacket, my hoodie and my headphones and headed over to the repair place. I enjoyed the walk. The rest of the day was various errands and my failed attempt at yoga, but all is well. My car is legal again. 

Tomorrow is our five hours at the State Fair and Monday is a Holiday here in the US (Memorial Day - a day of remembrance and thanks to those who serve in the military). I won't be posting again until Tuesday, so have a lovely two days and please, be kind and stay safe. 

We Had A Productive Holiday Weekend

I had a lovely Memorial Day weekend, even though I couldn't swim on Saturday and I'm in some serious pain after working in the garden for most of Sunday. Sunday started out with DH and I at Gertens - a nursery that is HUGE. We had been there in the rain the Sunday before, but this Sunday was bright, beautiful, much warmer, and it was packed! It covers acres of land, and the drive in is blocks long, and cars were parked everywhere allowed. We got lucky and found a space in their parking lot, but I heard that later in the day cars extended more than a mile in each direction from the main entrance. 

Gertens is huge. We wandered through the right side and the main
building, but still haven't gotten to the shrubs and trees. Across
the street to the south is their brickyard for landscaping rock and
materials, but we wanted to use Patio Town for our stone. 

We had a specific shopping list, and pretty much stayed with it. On the way out we looked at some flagstone slabs - irregular slabs that DH wanted for our garden. They weren't the right color, though, so after we dropped the plants off at home, we headed over to Patio Town to get stone. 

Patio Town is a local firm for outdoor projects and materials. They're
east of us, near our favorite movie theater, so not too far away. 

We ended up with Wildhorse slabs, and they're quite nice - a soft golden tone that will look wonderful in the garden. I went inside for a short time, but DH was in shortly asking for my help. Four and a half hours later we were done with the job of the day - uncovering all of our buried cables for the internet and the cable TV, gathering them all together into a single bundle, and reburying them along the house. It was a HUGE job - the backyard looked rather like gophers had tossed a graduation party in it after everything was dug up. I'm not sure if my tomato plants will survive the assault. 

Wildhorse is a type of jasper and the stone that isn't
"gem" quality is great for fieldstone because it fractures
in flat layers. It's got a nice warm golden tone to it. 

I was in some serious hurt, so DH did the actual recovering of the cables and filling in the trenches. Then, after a poor night's sleep (pain in my arm kept me tossing, turning, and waking up all night), I awoke to rain. DH went out and started placing stones down, making a walkway that would cover the cables' pathway from the utility pole across the yard. He decided that we needed more stone, so we were off in the rain to Patio Town once again. 

I wish it was this easy. Our house is 50+ years old and we were
digging through old roots of trees, bushes and ferns, a lot
of overgrowth, and various structures like old concrete
pads for non-functional air conditioners. Our trenching wasn't
anywhere this easy (we were also a LOT deeper, up to
two feet deep in places). 

Unlike the day before when their parking lot was full and five forklifts were moving pallets of rock around the yard, we were the only car in a sea of mud, and there was a single forklift driver for the day. I stayed dry while DH chose more rock and had it weighed, they drove the forklift to my car and we headed home. DH spent another two hours in the pouring rain before calling the new walkway good and coming inside for a hot shower. 

I was still in pain when I went to sleep, but I was so exhausted that I had a better night. Still, 3:15 am came early and I'm sitting here, dressed for the machines at the gym. No swimming for me. I'll try to set at doctor's appointment up on my way to work today and hopefully something will be able to help this pain in my bicep tendon. I really miss my swimming, and it may be off the table for months! 

I hope all of you had a wonderful weekend, and were able to spend some of it with family and friends if you celebrated Memorial Day yesterday. Have a great Tuesday and I'll be back tomorrow! 

I Should Be Swimming ... But I'm Not!

It's after 6:00 am on a Saturday morning. In fact, on THE Saturday morning that I've been waiting for months to arrive. Yet, I'm at home, sitting at the keyboard instead of swimming in the outdoor pool on opening day. Why? Because my arm is totally in pain. 

That large red mass is the biceps
tendon, and yeah - it's hurting from
my shoulder to my elbow. I'm supposed
to do gentle exercises and keep strain
to a minimum, also to back away from
exercise that may make things worse
like swimming or tennis. I don't play
tennis, but my body is taking my pool
away from me and I'm NOT happy. 

I've been looking up bicep tendonitis and it doesn't look like an easy fix. But the many articles are quite clear - avoid things that exacerbate the pain, exercise gently, avoid swimming (can you hear my weeping over that one?) and use ice and KT tape. If overworked and strained, it can tear, and if it tears, it will require surgery. Nope - not going to tear this sucker. But, that pulls the pool back out of my workouts and regulates me to machines for most, if not all, of the summer. I'll drop by the clinic on Tuesday morning and set up an appointment with my doctor for after I get back from my early June vacation. It's possible she'll order an MRI just to get a good feel for what we're dealing with here. 

KT tape is the short name for Kinesiology
Therapy tape. It's stretchable tape that
gently helps stimulate or control muscles. It
comes in a variety of colors. I use a hot
pink waterproof tape that will survive
the pool (rather moot now, but it won't be
forever). 

All I know is I was in the pool on Thursday and Friday and it hurts. A lot. I can't swim effectively, and as much as I want to be in the water, I don't want to swim with just one arm. I'm not getting a good workout, and I'm not enjoying my time in the pool. I'm horribly disappointed, it's a kick in the pants. 

I'm very bummed that I can't be swimming right now. But
I'm in serious hurt, and would like to get the pain
under control before returning to the water. Time to
see the doctor and get some options going. 

Oh well, at least I'll get two days off starting on Sunday. In the US, Monday is Memorial Day, so I'll be taking the day off to sleep a bit later. I won't be posting again until Tuesday, so try to be good, try to stay safe, and please be kind. I promise I'll be back on Tuesday morning, probably with tales of our second trip to the garden center. More flowers and additional plants are calling our names. Have a great long Memorial Day weekend! 

It Was A Great Holiday Weekend

DH and I had a wonderful 2-day holiday weekend. We spent a lot of time sitting on the new patio and enjoying the plants in the terraces surrounding us. It was relaxing and beautiful. We did take time out early Sunday morning and went to see "Avengers - Infinity War" which I loved. It's a shake-up, and I'm looking forward to seeing where things go from here, but I really enjoyed it. It does leave the viewer hanging, although I don't consider that a problem. 

Avengers - Infinity War had a huge cast and a story with a broad
scope. It was fun seeing the many super heroes all gathering
together to fight. It pulled together so many different story lines
in the Marvel universe. 

Monday late afternoon was hot - really, really hot! We had the earliest 100 F degree day in the past five years. If it had been later in the season, it would have been dreadful. It wasn't a piece of cake this time either, but our humidity was low and that made a difference. 

It was a hot weekend and we're still going to be in
the 90's today. It's really early in the season for
us to have temps this hot. 

A line of thunderstorms popped in the southeast metro in late evening, and the humidity suddenly increased. The hot now became rather cloying. Even though the west metro got some nice rain, we only got the thunder and the sticky air. 

No snow is left, even the huge mountains of snow left
in some of the large parking lots. Often some of that snow
will last until mid-June, but it's all gone now. The
heat has blasted it all away. 

Although we do have air conditioning at home, we never run it. We live with fans and are usually OK. I hung out in the relative cool of the lower levels of the house, and my fan by my bed is set perfectly to keep me cool, but not blow directly on me. So, even if it was a bit sticky overnight, we managed. 

With heat comes melting. Time to get my chocolates into
the refrigerator. It won't be as convenient, but they
won't be a puddle of goo either. 

We're in a heat warning for today too, which will make several days in a row in the upper 90's and low 100's. It's a bit early for all of this, so I'm really grateful that today I'll be in the pool and then at the shop. I have A/C at the shop and I'll be needing it. Have a great Tuesday, be kind to one another, I'll be back tomorrow (unless I melt away from the heat). 

Outdoor Swimming - Some Beautiful Pool Pics to Share

My weekend begins today at 5:00 pm and I can hardly wait! DH has stocked the refrigerator with food for two days of grilling, and we bought tickets for "Infinity War" last night.. We'll be taking one early morning of our holiday to see the movie. The weather will be hot, with some possible thunderstorms because the conditions are a bit unstable in this heat. We'll manage, I'm sure. All I can focus on is TWO DAYS OFF IN A ROW! It's such a rare thing for me. 

I spent quite a lot of time searching photos for the most beautiful
swimming pools in the world. This one, in Bali, Indonesia, is
a stunning entry. It was hard to choose, but it made my top-5. 

Today is the first day to be able to swim in the outdoor pool at my gym. I'm really looking forward to it, and I'm hoping it won't be too crowded for the 6:00 am open. Starting next week, the indoor and outdoor pools will be open on weekdays with only the outdoor pool open on weekends and holidays. Having an almost empty indoor pool during the week means I can work on my swimmer's turn and fine tuning my strokes, but having the outdoor pool also available opens up stamina and consistency training. It's totally the best of both worlds. 

The pool at Marina Bay, Singapore, is an infinity pool suspended high
above the bustling city. It's not for the height-challenged, but
swimming in it would be an incredible experience. 

In LOTRO, my High Elf, "Cally", finally has a clean sheet for the Lone Lands and is off finishing slayer deeds in the North Downs. One of these days she needs to get back to Angmar and wrap that up too. I'm actually pretty disappointed with where she's at in power and skills compared to her level. I know a lot of that is because of Harvest Fest, Yule Fest and the Anniversary Event. Festivals and special events allow characters to level up quickly, but slayer skills are put on the back burner. It's both good and bad, but right now it's frustrating. 

This lovely pool is at Villa Honegg, Switzerland. Just having the
Alps as the backdrop brings this beautiful infinity pool into
the top choices for me. 

I'm sure I'll never actually visit the pools I've shared with you today, but they're so wonderful and dreams are good. I'm just psyched about my upcoming weekend. Just ... really happy right now. I hope all of you, my friends and readers, have a great weekend. Remember those who died in the service of their nations, and celebrate the holiday with friends and family. If you're not in the US, celebrate along with us - any excuse for a party! I'll be back on Tuesday, so don't get TOO carried away with that extra day of holiday - LOL. 

Memorial Day Weekend Count-down

I'm in count-down mode for Memorial Day weekend. It's always a wonderful thing to have an extra day off from work, DH and I are looking forward to a day of relaxation, bratwurst on the grill, and afternoon Margaritas under the patio umbrella. It'll be hot - REALLY hot. Starting today, our temps for the weekend will be in the 80's to 90's! Those are July temperatures WAY early. One more example of how messed up our climate is. 

I'm not a fan of mosquitoes. Their bites irritate
the skin, and they transmit diseases. It is a
solid part of our summers here in the land
of 10,000+ lakes, though. 

We haven't had mosquitoes yet, but I saw my first nymphs flitting around my car doors yesterday afternoon, so the full-grown adult versions are quickly on their way. Damn. The mosquitoes might be the bad part about our upcoming weekend. If they mature quickly in our upcoming heat, we might be attacked. 

We always use Kingsford Charcoal for
our grill. Finding them on sale at such
as tremendous savings was a treat!
Now we're set for the summer. 

I'm fully stocked on charcoal for the grill, though. When we went to Home Depot the other day for plants, etc., we looked at their charcoal (two 18.5-lb bags for $15.99) and thought, "Hmmm, not a bad price," but we didn't buy it. We used up the last of our stock later that day, so more charcoal before our weekend became a priority. 

I went to WalMart yesterday for salsa that seems to only be stocked there, and checked their price on charcoal while I was there. Two 15-pound bags for $16.99! HORRID price. I went back to Home Depot, and voila! They were running a 5-day sale - two 18.5 bags of charcoal for ... $9.99!!! I picked up four bags. That was a price that couldn't be beat! 

We don't have a fancy grill. We use a
standard Weber 22" charcoal grill for our
outdoor cooking during the summer. We
did buy a new grill late last summer, our
old one (more than 20 years old) finally
burned through its' sides. 

So we're set for the weekend, except it won't be here for a few more days. We'll swelter in the heat wave until Sunday, then relax for a couple of days. I'll be at the shop working during the days, and I have air conditioning there. DH, on the other hand, will be working at home in the yard in 80-90 degree heat. I'm sure we'll also have some thunderstorms with this heat wave, so we're in for an interesting few days. 

Stay cool, stay safe, and start planning your own Memorial Day weekend, if you haven't already. Have a great Thursday and I'll be back tomorrow. 

Thank You For Your Service

Thanks to all who serve and have served to help keep our world safe and free. Thanks to the families who keep the home fires burning and hope alive. Thanks to all who have been touched by conflict and have come through safely and stronger.

Thank You For Your Service!

The Outdoor Pool is Open!

Today is the first day for the 50-meter swimming pool. For the rest of the summer (weather depending) the outdoor pool will be open every day and the indoor will only be open on Monday-Friday. At least the outdoor temp is in the upper 50's today - Thursday's morning temp was in the mid 40's and that would have been a really miserable run out to the water.

No lap swimming in this pool, but I spent hours and hours just playing in
pools like this while I was growing up. I guess I've always enjoyed
swimming pools. 

I've been thinking about my Memorial Day weekend for ages - at least it seems like that. DH and I don't get two days off together often. Sunday seems to be packed - a trip to Home Depot to buy bags of rocks for the castle and maybe some plants, then after unloading the rocks back at the house, we reload Minion with a load of yard waste and take that to the nearby recycling landfill. After that we can relax for a while before firing up the grill for dinner.

No laps in this pool either, but it looks like a fun place to spend some
quality time with the sun and the water. 

Unfortunately it's supposed to be beautiful weather today but raining for the remainder of the weekend. It's going to put a drippy pall on the weekend, but it will still be a joy to have fun over the weekend and have two days away from work. So I'm totally stoked. I'm going to end my month will lots of happy things - good food, my DH for two days, and yes ... the outdoor pool. I'll get my workout figured out while I'm in the water. All is good.

For my friends in the USA, have a wonderful holiday weekend.

Memorial Day Thoughts

Many of my friends headed out to cemeteries throughout the state to clean their family graves earlier in the week. It's a tradition up here in the frozen north, a tradition I've never participated in for several reasons. The primary reason is that the remains of my parents are in a different state. But I also wasn't raised in the tradition. My family's remains are scattered throughout Europe, floating in the winds and clouds, at the bottom of the deepest oceans, and falling with the rain, a drink for animals throughout the world.

Many people I know cleaned their family graves over the
past week. 

Memorial Day is a day when we remember those who have gone before. It is also a celebration of our military, those who gave their lives and those who currently put their lives on the line. But we have Veteran's Day to celebrate our military and I don't like Memorial Day being completely overtaken by a military aspect. Memorial Day celebrates those who have died - military of course, but also those who never carried a gun.

There's nothing sweeter than a grandmother holding a baby. The
smiles, the trust, it's a beautiful thing. 

It celebrates the grandmothers who held their grandchildren with such a gentle smile.

Parents are famous for going the extra mile, but
there's a special place for hockey moms. 

It celebrates the mothers who drove their kids to early hockey practice before the sun rose in the morning.

Working the line was long hours and sometimes dangerous work. But
it put food on the table and, in those days, was a dependable job. 

It celebrates the fathers who worked long hours in factories and at desks to provide for their families.

Don't forget the sacrifices of our active service people and veterans, but
also remember those who helped you take your first steps and encouraged
your dreams. Honor all of them this Memorial Day. 

Memorial Day celebrates those around you who contributed to where you are today - the teacher, the fire fighter, the police officer, and of course, the military who put themselves into danger to protect all of us. Remember all of those who have died and are no longer in your life. I'm going to enjoy an extra day to sleep in late and I'll be back posting on Tuesday. Have a wonderful extended weekend.

High Gear Steps Up

I'm back ... did you miss me? Things will be going crazy here over the next few weeks. I work through this week, but I'm off to my annual conference next week. After I return, I have one more week to get my house cleaned up and ready for carpeting and flooring. It's crazy-busy time.

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I had a really nice Memorial Day weekend, although we ditched the movie in favor of a bit more sleep and increased cleaning time. That's key right now - getting things cleaned up to the max as quickly as possible. The drapes have been ordered and we knocked almost 40% off the price because of sales and other discounts we were able to apply. SCORE! The dining room is completely cleaned now, and Sharon's Room has started receiving boxes of books from the living room. I have one more box of books to scan and then the in-use boxes can also be put into there.

We are so busy over the next few weeks, it's mind-blowing! 

DH got rid of one large pile of stuff from the kitchen yesterday, but he still has things in the living room to go through today. Since he'll be working the rest of the week, his initial thoughts that he could do more on Thursday and Friday don't hold, and he'll be working all next week too. Poor boy. He'll survive, although he's not happy.

Tech Dump accepts any electronic items for recycling, and most
of them are at no charge or little charge. I have two printers and
a third CPU and a third computer monitor that need to get dropped
off. The only thing I'm keeping from my old computers are the keyboards.
Those seem to have use for me in so many other systems. 

My car trunk is stuffed with items for recycling, Goodwill and TechDump, with more waiting for later in the week. I think I can get TechDump done today, but Goodwill will have to wait until tomorrow because they open a bit later. Still, things are getting tossed, donated or recycled, and that's making me quite happy.

We're making progress, slowly but surely. 

So progress is being made and that's the important thing. Now to wrap this up and get going to the gym. Have a great Tuesday, everyone!

Memorial Day Weekend

Memorial Day Weekend - here in the US we're heading into the long holiday weekend and the 'official' start of summer. It's easy to get caught up in summer vacation plans, barbecues on the backyard grill, and swimming in the outdoor pool for the first time of the year. It's easy to get caught up in the happy aspects of this holiday. But let's not forget.

Have a good Memorial Day and celebrate your freedoms,
they were hard-earned. 

Memorial Day celebrates, commemorates, and remembers the fallen - those who served their nation by giving the ultimate sacrifice, losing their lives to protect their nation and those yearning to live free in other nations where they were asked to serve. Today and over this long weekend, honor those soldiers who currently serve and those who gave their lives. I'll be back on Tuesday.

Memorial Day

Monday is Memorial Day here in the US and since it is a National holiday, the store will be closed and I will have the day off. I won't be posting on Monday, so this post will tide me over for both Saturday and Monday.

I honor those who serve on Memorial Day. 

I have been asked by some of my overseas friends to explain what Memorial Day is all about. Here in the US it is an opportunity to honor our veterans. My grandparent's war was WWI, my parents' war was WWII. My own generation's war was Vietnam and, of course, the current wars in Afghanistan and Iraq have been going on for more than twelve years now.

The Vietnam War was my generation's war. Classmates of mine
graduated from high school and went out to the jungles by
the end of the summer. Some didn't come back home again. 

In each of these wars as well as numerous conflicts around the world, men and women have been called upon to place themselves into the line of fire. They leave families and loved ones behind and travel into areas where they have a good chance of coming under fire from weapons or explosives. I am well aware that the US is often seen as overbearing and unwelcome and even pushy in other parts of the world. I can't disagree with some of it, but when nations are unstable, when they are being invaded or are under attack, the US is often the first nation that will be contacted for assistance. Often we respond to the call and send aid in a variety of forms, from economic aid through advisory personnel and finally, if truly merited and backed by the world in general, troops on the ground and in the air.

Fredericksburg National Cemetery illuminates the cemetery in honor
of Memorial Day. More than 15,000 are buried here. 

Politics can sully everything. When it comes down to it, veterans deserve our respect and our thanks for the sacrifice they have made and that's what Memorial Day is all about.

Thank you for your sevice.

So as we put food on the grills and pop open a frosty beverage, keep a moment free to think and thank those who serve. Have a great weekend.