I’ll be working on the web site that is going to help my dear friend get the word out about the Memorial Ride we are doing this summer to remember her son and all the fallen soldiers.  It will be raising money for Blue Star Moms and Honor and Rememberance.

My friend lost her baby in Iraq on March 10, 2008.  

I think it’s an appropriate activity for Memorial Day.

We will visit Arlington Cemetary to visit my husband’s father’s grave…a wonderful man, a true Patriot, Lt. Col in the Air Force who went on to be a test pilot for the Germans and the Israeli’s, and a veteran of World War II.     On Sunday I will drive to my father’s grave in a nearby city.  He, too, was a World War II veteran, a wonderful man, a true Patriot and the kindest man to all he knew and those he didn’t know.   On Monday I will tackle a few chores I’ve been neglecting and fire up the grill for a cookout.

I wish all of my fellow bloggers a truly wonderful and memorable Memorial Day whether it be with family, friends or by yourselves.  We live in the best country in the world, the least racism country in the world and we should be proud of who we are.   Our daily struggles to perserve what it means to be an American are ongoing but worth the fight.

My dears, Liz Smith and I, ladies of a certain age, will be napping - on opposite coasts.  Please, dahlings, don’t shake Mommy with any more earthquakes!

Going to take time to think about what this holiday means: men and women who put their needs second to the greater needs of their country and their world and serve with honor. Then I’m going to buy my plants for the planters on my deck and terrace, and spend a blissful morning with my hands in the potting soil. And when that’s done, I’ve got a pile of to-be-read books piled up, and I’m going to kick off my shoes and lose myself in a thumping good read!

Cheers, wowers!

I received an award from my firm for 15 years service about a month before I was laid off.  The irony of this ugly, heavy, star-shaped, embossed, glass paperweight is not lost on me.  My boyfriend and I have been scouting for the perfect place to destroy what is now known as the Death Star (a bow to Star Wars).  I want to find a deserted cliff where no one will get hurt from flying pieces of glass and record it on our digital camera.

That’s how I will be spending the holiday.  Making memories.  And getting the past out of my system.

I am going to an American Indian Pow Wow. Where we will honor all of the fallen Veterans, and all who are living, but most of all, all who are still serving. God Bless you boys.

May my nephew have a safe journey home from Kuwait for a 2 week leave.

A friend showed up this afternoon with 2 delicious, fresh watermelon (her grandfather used to grow all varieties on their Colorado River property "which is now more water than land … "). We enjoyed a mid-afternoon diuretic dose of the luscious stuff, and it stalled my routine clearning-out-the-cave activities.

Planning another rather sponstaneous Salad Night, again, with movies and friends (their idea) - cannot clean fast enough, so I’m resting, instead.

The ‘dressing’ is my job! We’ll pull greens from our individual gardens - but it rained here! RAINED!

Hope you are all relaxing.

My husband and I just came inside after spending the better part of our first day of this holiday weekend splitting and stacking wood.  

We live on beautiful wooded acreage along the river and we’re killing three birds with one stone.  Cleaning up the property a bit, getting some much needed excercise, and making a couple of bucks!  Since we no longer have a wood-burning stove (replaced it with gas) we’re putting the wood up on the road for folks to buy (or take - it’s karma wood so if they take it without putting money in our mailbox then it really isn’t a big deal).  There’s a lot of people that drive up our road during the summer and on holiday weekends - trailheads, forest land and places to camp about 10 more miles up our road - and most need wood so we’ve managed to make a fair amount of cash!  

It’s a gorgeous day today - we may grill tonight and then settle in for a relaxing evening, but after today,  I just might follow Liz Smith’s lead and sleep the rest of the weekend! 

Obama’s Memorial Day Celebration At Arlington Cemetery 

"WASHINGTON — Barack Obama marked his first Memorial Day as president on Monday, saluting the men and women of America’s fighting forces, both living and dead, as "the best of America." 

"Why in an age when so many have acted only in pursuit of narrowest self-interest have the soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines of this generation volunteered all that they have on behalf of others," he said. "Why have they been willing to bear the heaviest burden?"

"Whatever it is, they felt some tug. They answered a call. They said ‘I’ll go.’ That is why they are the best of America," Obama said. "That is what separates them from those who have not served in uniform, their extraordinary willingness to risk their lives for people they never met." 

President Obama and his wife, Michelle, have made veterans and military families a priority during his administration. His budget proposal includes the largest, single-year funding increase in the last three decades to revamp the Department of Veterans Affairs."

I’ll probably work and study for my exams…                                    But I’m not missing anything, since we don’t celebrate Memorial Day weekend…