National Creamsicle Day

Today is National Creamsicle Day. Just looking at this graphic reminds me of hot and humid summers in my youth being made bearable by the cold creamy treat on a stick.

Enjoy a cold one today!

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Happy Birthday America!!

Happy Birthday to the greatest country on the face of the earth.

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Memorial Day 2009

Observed in some form or fashion since its original proclamation in 1868, Memorial Day is observed to allow patriotic Americans the opportunity to show our thanks to those who gave their all in defending our country. Memorial Day gives those of us who enjoy our freedoms the opportunity to honor those who made the ultimate sacrifice so that we might retain those freedoms.



In memory of those who have fallen in defense of the liberties many of us take for granted, Americans, wherever they are, will observe a National Moment of Remembrance today at 3pm local time. This is an act of national unity that has been established to honor America’s fallen and the families they left behind. I urge you to pause in reflection and remembrance of those who gave their lives in service to our nation.



I was reminded last Friday that the late Supreme Court Justice Oliver Wendell Homes referred to Memorial Day as, "Our Most Sacred Holiday" and proposed that "we not ponder with sad thoughts the passing of our heroes, but rather ponder their legacy - the life they made possible for us by their commitment and pain."

To those who gave their all; to their families, loved ones and friends who lost a part of their lives; I say simply, and sincerely, with a heart full of gratitude, "Thank you."

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Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to my mom and my mother-in-law. I can't be with either of you on this special day, but I hope you both know how treasured you are to me and how much I love you both.

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Happy Cinco de Mayo!

Lucky Day: "Wherever there is injustice, you will find us."
Ned Nederlander: "Wherever there is suffering, we'll be there."
Dusty Bottoms: "Wherever liberty is threatened, you will find..."
Lucky Day, Ned Nederlander, Dusty Bottoms: "The Three Amigos!"

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Easter Photos On Flickr

I went through the Easter pics from yesterday and uploaded the best to Flickr.

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Easter In Orlando

Well, we pretty much finished up the preliminary work we were doing in Valdosta and southern Georgia, so I was able to come home to Orlando Saturday morning. I left Valdosta at 4:30am and arrived in Orlando in time to surprise Cindy and her parents as they were meeting for breakfast at Cracker Barrel. I loved the look of shock and then pleasure on their faces, lol.

I got to see the same look on my daughter's face when she walked into the family dinner at Cindy's parents' house this afternoon, since I had been careful not to post anything on this blog (she doesn't follow me on Twitter or Facebook) that would clue her in that I was home. It looks like I'll be going back to Georgia later this week.

We had a wonderful dinner prepared by Jeremy and Wendy (2 days of cooking and preparing!) and great visits with most of the rest of the family (Jason, Mikey and Steve weren't able to come) but of course the best part of the day for me was watching my 3 year-old granddaughter Heather hunt for Easter eggs and playing in the garden.

Here's one of my favorite shots, where she's reaching for an egg hidden at the top of the arbor. I hope to have all the Easter photos uploaded to Flickr tomorrow.

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Happy St. Patrick's Day

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Owner Of A Lonely Heart

Another Valentine's Day spent away from my Valentine.

Last year I was in Baton Rouge, LA on Valentine's Day and though I did not forget the day as it relates to Cindy, it did slip my mind when I went out for dinner at a nearby Italian restaurant. Sitting alone in a dining room full of happy smiling couples, I vowed not to relive that experience again if we were apart on Valentine's Day. So, tonight I'll be eating dinner in my hotel room and avoiding the "in your face" reminder that we're not together and out enjoying a romantic meal ourselves.

A quick search of Google reveals the following "lonely heart" references:

Owner of a Lonely Heart - 1983 song by rock band Yes

Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band - 1967 Album by the Beatles

None But The Lonely Heart - 1944 film

The Heart is a Lonely Hunter - 1940 novel

A Lonely Heart - several poems with this title, but my favorite is the one by Myrtle Thomas.

So, to all the lonely hearts out there today, whether because you are away from your love or have not yet found them, this post is for you.

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HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

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Christmas Day 2008

After the festivities on Christmas Eve, Cindy and I were up at 5am and over at Jeremy and Wendy's by 6. When Amber and Shawn arrived, we exchanged gifts and then jumped in our cars for the drive to Deltona for breakfast and Christmas morning gift-opening with AnnMarie, Jason, Mikey and Heather. The best part of Christmas is watching the grandkids open their presents. I think both Mikey and Heather got a lot of gifts and toys that they will enjoy for a while (at least a week). Heather loved her toy kitty that purrs and stretches its paws and the Dora the Explorer tricycle, while Mikey, our 7-year old budding computer programmer, was intensely excited when he opened his "How to" programming book and his Bill Gates biography.



Photos from both those fun gatherings are up on Flickr.

Cindy and I left Deltona and drove to Downtown Disney where we enjoyed a nice stroll, had lunch at the Earl of Sandwich and then went to the AMC theater to watch "The Day The Earth Stood Still", starring Keanu Reeves in a role he was born to play...an alien in the form of a human that displays no facial expression and speaks in a monotone. Talk about owning a role!

The rest of the afternoon and evening we spent relaxing at home. All in all, a nice, enjoyable day.

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Season's Greetings

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Christmas Eve Family Dinner

Tonight was our annual Christmas Eve Family Dinner and altogether I think I counted 30 people and 3 dogs in the house for a few hours of food, fun, visiting and gift-giving. I'm especially glad I was able to be home off the road to be a part of the celebration.

Here's a photo of my granddaughter Heather, who seemed to be having a wonderful time tonight and looked so beautiful in the dress that Cindy bought for her.



More photos are up on Flickr.

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The 100 Worst Christmas Songs

Entertainment Weekly has put up their list of The 100 Greatest Down-and-Out-on-Christmas Songs and I felt vindicated to see that the Christmas song I hate to hear the most was listed in the number one position.

Granted, I used to enjoy "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" but that all changed during the holiday season of 1999 when my grandmother and father, respectively, passed away. After that, the words "Through the years we all will be together, if the Fates allow" never failed to cause me to choke up and when that didn't change after two subsequent holiday seasons, I decided to never voluntarily listen to the song again. If it comes on the radio, I change the station or turn it off; if it is played over a store Muzak system while I'm shopping, I hum something different and if someone around me starts singing it, I punch them out to shut their mouth. Ok, I don't really do that last one.

Is there a Christmas song YOU consider to be the worst?

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For Kids Only (and big kids like yours truly)

My friend Royda sent me this site a few days ago, and I didn't want to delay any longer in getting it posted so that parents have plenty of time to look it over and their children can enjoy it. It's a great holiday site for kids celebrating Santa's big night with lots of activities they can do with their parents or by themselves.

And, most important of all, there is a link to NORAD's Santa Tracker. It's a lot of fun to watch the progress of St. Nick as he travels around the world delivering presents to homes across the globe.

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In MY House We Say...

This blog post had me laughing all day.

Note: Do not read if vulgar language or the putting-in-place of a "holier than thou" person offends you. Seriously. I'm laughing, but I mean it, seriously.

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Jefferson City Living Windows

Friday night I went to downtown Jefferson City for the Living Windows holiday event, an annual celebration that involves the downtown merchants and retailers providing live, holiday-based entertainment in their storefront windows or on the street in front of their store or business.



Other than freezing (I was wearing light casual pants, since I came straight from the office after work, but even with my heavy jacket and gloves my body was cold and my fingers were numb), it was enjoyable and I was able to get a few good photos. In addition to the Living Windows shots, I was able to get one of the State capitol building at night.

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Reindeer Doo-Doo As Holiday Ornaments

Yeah, you read that right. Some enterprising folks at the Miller Park Zoo in Bloomington, IL figured out a way to make reindeer poop pay...in a big way.

They take a dropping (which, it turns out, is very small considering the size of Santa's sleigh-pullers) dry it, clear-coat it and then roll it in paint or glitter and sell it as a tree decoration for $5.

The zoo's marketing director lives up to her title by naming the droppings "magical reindeer gem ornaments" and you even get a certificate of authenticity, though I'm not sure why.

This whole thing is the fault of the zoo director's grandmother, but you'll have to read the story to find out why.

Now I know what to do with the mess my dog has made out of my backyard. Fair warning to family and friends; you know what to expect this holiday season...Magical Wolf Garland Ornaments!

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Going Home For Christmas

I'll be getting to go home for Christmas for a few days. Not long enough to bother buying a tree and getting out the decorations, but Cindy and I will at least have the holiday together and I will get to see the kids and grandkids.

I'm a real Christmas junkie. I love the time of year, the music, the decorations, getting and giving gifts, egg nog and mince pie, lol. In the past, we've always bought a tree on the Friday after Thanksgiving, put up the house decorations and then decorated the tree on Saturday or Sunday after giving the tree a day or so to "fall out" so its branches are fully spread. And we always try to get most of the gift shopping done as early as possible.

But the past two years have been different for both of us with me on the road. Though Cindy and Amber got a tree and decorated it last year, Cindy has decided not to bother getting a full-size tree this year. Instead she's already bought a small, live, table-top sized tree and put a few decorations on it and gifts under it. The house wasn't decorated last year and won't be again this year, but at least we'll have a few days together at home. And though the gift shopping isn't done yet, we did manage to get the holiday cards bought, addressed and stamped before I left for Missouri and Cindy mailed them out today. Last year, when I was in Louisiana, we didn't get ANY cards mailed out, so that's an improvement, lol.

In the meantime, we just keep visualizing our future holidays in our cabin in the mountains.

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E-Mail Euphoria

I love the day after a holiday at work, especially when other agencies or partner groups are closed in the midst of a 4-day holiday like Thanksgiving. Today I actually had an empty e-mail inbox by 11am. Of course more started pouring in at 11:02, but it was a nice feeling of accomplishment for about 2 minutes.

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