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Happy 4th of July weekend

I hope everyone is having a happy and safe holiday weekend. July 4th is without a doubt one of my favorite holidays. It is the birthday of our nation — or, as I see it, the birthday of the greatest nation on earth. To quote President Ronald Reagan:

“There have been revolutions before and since ours, but those revolutions simply exchanged one set of rules for another. Ours was a revolution that changed the very concept of government.

Let the Fourth of July always be a reminder that here in this land, for the first time, it was decided that man is born with certain God-given rights; that government is only a convenience created and managed by the people, with no powers of its own except those voluntarily granted to it by the people.

“We sometimes forget that great truth, and we never should.”

We never should — truer words have never been spoken.

As we all enjoy the festivities, food, and games this weekend, let us all take some time to reflect on the events that precipitated this country’s independence and the freedoms that we enjoy. Let us remember that with freedom comes responsibility — if we don’t like the way things are going in this country, that it is our responsibility to make a change.

Let us also remember those who have given their lives to defend our freedom, and those who are fighting for them still.

A Day of Remembrance

I hope everyone is having a wonderful holiday weekend. May we all remember why this day is so important and never forget those who are serving and have served to protect the freedoms that we hold so dear.

Remember folks, freedom is not free.

Humpday Hilarities

I have several today, so let’s get started! This one is from one of my WOSIB sisters:

How to Deal with Party Crashers

It was at a party and the host was getting worried because there were too many people and not enough refreshments.

She was sure that not all of these people had been invited but didn’t know how to tell which ones were the crashers. Then her husband got an idea …

He turned to the crowd of guests and said “Will everyone from the bride’s side of the family stand up please?” About twenty people stood.

Then he asked “Will everyone from the groom’s side of the family stand up as well?” About twenty five people stood up.

Then he smiled and said, “Will everyone who stood please leave. This is a birthday party.”

This one is from my pal Cookie:

Understanding the Stimulus Bill

Shortly after class, an economics student approaches his economics professor and says, “I don’t understand this stimulus bill. Can you explain it to me?”

The professor replied, “I don’t have any time to explain it at my office, but if you come over to my house on Saturday and help me with my weekend project, I’ll be glad to explain it to you.” The student agreed.

At the agreed-upon time, the student showed up at the professor’s house. The professor stated that the weekend project involved his backyard pool.

They both went out back to the pool, and the professor handed the student a bucket. Demonstrating with his own bucket, the professor said, “First, go over to the deep end, and fill your bucket with as much water as you can.” The student did as he was instructed.

The professor then continued, “Follow me over to the shallow end, and then dump all the water from your bucket into it.” The student was naturally confused, but did as he was told.

The professor then explained they were going to do this many more times, and began walking back to the deep end of the pool.

The confused student asked, “Excuse me, but why are we doing this?”

The professor matter-of-factly stated that he was trying to make the shallow end much deeper.

The student didn’t think the economics professor was serious, but figured that he would find out the real story soon enough.

However, after the 6th trip between the shallow end and the deep end, the student began to become worried that his economics professor had gone mad. The student finally replied, “All we’re doing is wasting valuable time and effort on unproductive pursuits. Even worse, when this process is all over, everything will be at the same level it was before, so all you’ll really have accomplished is the destruction of what could have been truly productive action!”

The professor put down his bucket and replied with a smile,

“Congratulations. You now understand the stimulus bill.”

This one is from one of my coworkers:

The Coping Diet

This is a specially formulated diet designed to help women cope with the stress that builds during the day.

Breakfast
1 grapefruit
1 slice whole wheat toast
1 cup skim milk

Lunch
1 small portion, lean, steamed chicken
1 cup spinach
1 cup herbal tea
1 Hershey’s Kiss

Afternoon Snack
The rest of the Hershey’s Kisses in the bag
1 tub of Hagen-Daaz ice cream with chocolate chips

Dinner
4 glasses of wine (red or white)
2 loaves garlic bread
1 family size supreme pizza
3 Snickers bars

Late Night Snack
1 whole Sarah Lee cheesecake (eaten directly from the freezer)

Remember: ‘Stressed’ spelled backward is ‘desserts!’

And last but not least, another funny from one of my WOSIB sisters:

In addition to communicating with the local Air Traffic Control facility, all aircraft in the Persian Gulf AOR are required to give the Iranian Air Defense Radar (military) a ten minute ‘heads up’ if they will be transiting Iranian airspace. This is a common procedure for commercial aircraft and involves giving them your call sign, transponder code, type aircraft, and points of origin and destination.

I just flew with a guy who overheard this conversation on the VHF Guard (emergency) frequency 121.5 MHz while flying from Europe to Dubai. It is too good not to pass along.

The conversation went like this:

Iranian Air Defense Radar: “Unknown aircraft, you are in Iranian Airspace. Identify yourself.”

Aircraft: “This is a United States Aircraft. I am in Iraqi Airspace.”

Iranian Air Defense Radar: “You are in Iranian Airspace. If you do not depart our airspace, we will launch Interceptor Aircraft!”

Aircraft: “This is a United States Marine Corps FA-18 Fighter. Send ‘em up! I’ll wait!”

Iranian Air Defense Radar: (No Response — Total Silence)

A reminder: Why I do it

The following was received from a soldier and was posted to the Soldiers’ Angels Wingtip 2 Wingtip blog:

I would like to take this time to say thank you for all that you have done for me and other Soldiers like me. Thank you for your letters, cards, calling cards, heartfelt prayers and thoughts.

Our force, however strong, needs encouragement, especially when our will is weak. Your kindness has healed our sad souls and our longing for our homes.

With reminders every day that we are not alone …

We have you!

Thank you Soldiers Angels!

It makes my heart smile to see our efforts appreciated by those we love and support. Because of this, I’ll gladly keep doing what I’m doing … as long as it takes.

“May no soldier go unloved,
may no soldier walk alone,
may no soldier be forgotten,
until they all come home.”
– Patti Patton-Bader

Merry Christmas, Happy Solstice and Merry Yule, y’all!

 

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.”

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.

– Luke 2:8-20 NIV

Christmas comes early for some …

I received an email today from Soldiers’ Angels notifying me that the infantry where two of my soldiers are has a “mailstop.” This means only one thing …

THEY ARE COMING HOME!!!!

I know their families have got to be so excited!

God bless you, Casey and Steven. Wherever you are and wherever you’re headed, I wish you a safe trip.

Thank You!

Whenever I’m out and about and see a soldier or veteran, I always go up to them and thank them for their service and hand them a small Soldiers’ Angels card. Something Jessie said a while back sticks in the back of my mind every time I meet one … she said, “‘Thank you’ doesn’t seem like enough.”

I know what she means. For such a small phrase and gesture, I hope I’m able to make a big impact on that person, or the people around them. And I hope I come across as truly grateful.

To all troops, veterans, and their families: you have my thanks, gratitude, and support. May God bless you, and those who love and support you!

We’re outta here!

Welp, I’m finishing up wrapping tonight and we’ll pack up the car early tomorrow to head out of town for a bit.

My overnight bag’s packed tighter than a Ju Ju Be, LOL!

Hopefully I’ll have some goodies to share when I get back.

I hope everyone has a safe and very Merry Christmas!

Some room to breathe …

Ever have one of those really good productive days at work? One where when you get done accomplishing things you just feel like you can breathe again? I’ve had one today. I spent a good bit of the afternoon clearing out my major email accounts and am pleased to say that I got quite a lot done. Jess is over at her mother’s tonight. Jim came home from work early and has been in bed most of the afternoon (most likely he’s finally coming down with that awful crud that Jess and I have both already had), so the house is nice and quiet.

Tonight I treated myself to a very fantabulous meal from Hamburger Heaven and am currently downloading 6 months’ worth of photos from my Helio Ocean to my laptop. I’ve finally had time to sit down and go through a new cookbook I had bought on Black Friday. I’ve made a laundry list of items I’d need for various recipes that caught my eye — from Chicken Tortilla Soup, to Easy Cajun Stew, to 30-minute Paella, to Spanish Skillet Supper, to Catalonian Stew, …

Yum, yum!

I’ve also started clearing out my desk. I found myself tossing out old notes, papers, and various promotional brochures — everything from Victorinox Swiss Army watches to vacation places …

Gah, I collect a lot of crap!

I’m toying around with the thought of upgrading this blog to WordPress 2.7 RC1, but I think I’ll hold off as I have not yet updated this theme to handle all the new features. I’ve also started on and have almost finished my Christmas card mailing list, and am scanning the Soldiers’ Angels forums to see if there are any new card or letter requests.

Something I had meant to post a couple weeks back — my soldiers’ Christmas packages. Jess, Jim, and I had a lot of fun playing “Santa” and filling up a stocking for each soldier. Each stocking was filled with all kinds of Christmas cookies and candies, different types of trail mixes, a CD of Christmas songs, a wool scarf, various little toys, a novelty tie, and a handful of other things …

I so wish I could see their faces when their packages arrive over there!

I hope everyone’s having a good week. I think I’m going to take off for now and curl up next to the snoring snuffle monster (Jim, LOL!) to catch up on some DVDs.

Ja, mata ne!

Anything for metal

Heavy metal is what I consider my “first love” when it comes to music. Although I have branched out into other genres over the years and have lots of favorites from 20s and 30s jazz and blues, to bluegrass and cajun banjo-picking, to opera and classical, I still always come back to heavy metal. When I’m in good mood and want something to match, or feeling nostalgic and craving a particular sound, or simply need a “pick me up”, I pop some heavy metal in my CD player or MP3 queue, and am instantly in love all over again.

Hell, I “earned” my online moniker because of heavy metal. I was dubbed ‘Nitallica’ by a friend in high school because at the time bands like Metallica were, for years, the staple of my proverbial musical diet. I happily credit heavy metal as a constant source of inspiration for many of my digital and other artrial emissions over the years, as well as a positive focal point from which I drew strength during darker periods in my life. While I appreciate many different forms of music, what really quickens my pulse are the primal sounds of lightning quick guitar riffs, thundering percussions, screaming/thrashing vocals — simply put: metal makes my heart smile.

One of my co-workers just sent me the link to an article posted yesterday on USA Today’s website:

Nothing else matters: Iraqi heavy metal returns

BAGHDAD — At a private dinner club on the banks of the Tigris River in Baghdad, Muthana Mani screamed threats at a wild-eyed crowd of young Iraqis.

“I’ll see you die at my feet! Eternally I smash your face! Facial bones collapse as I crack your skull in half!” he roared.

Two years ago, these kinds of threats in Iraq typically came from members of al-Qaeda, or violent sectarian militias. Saturday night, they were directed at 250 Iraqi fans of heavy metal music who fearlessly donned eye shadow, anarchist pendants and black T-shirts and came out of hiding to attend Iraq’s first metal concert in five years. Throughout the two-hour show, the crowd thrashed about, a sea of sweating bodies and banging heads. They screamed obscenities and broke tables. It was a scene that would have made any American metal fan proud.

It was also another indication of just how much security has improved here. When religious extremists controlled Baghdad’s neighborhoods, being a member of heavy metal’s unique subculture could amount to a death sentence, says Mani, 21, the lead singer of Brutal Impact, one of the two bands that played the concert.

“If I wore a T-shirt like this one,” Mani said in an interview after the show, pointing to a logo of a bleeding skull, “they’d have killed me.”

Read the whole article and watch the video here!

That is just freakin’ awesome. Freedom … and Metal. Two of my favorite things — and those Iraqi youths now have both.

Just one more reason to thank our troops!

Why I love NASCAR

My husband loves NASCAR. I mean he REALLY loves it. I’m sure if it were possible, he’d watch it 24-7-365. He follows NASCAR like I follow WordPress, Firefox, and Alabama football.

I mean, as a sport, it’s “OK”. (Hey, it’s not football! *g*) It’s fun to go to NASCAR events, but I can’t sit and watch it every week like he does. That said, I do tell people that I love NASCAR — and I do, but not for the reasons that most people think.

Courtesy of the Fox 6 News feed:

Iraq Veterans Humble NASCAR Drivers

Kyle Busch, Greg Biffle and other NASCAR drivers and team owners visited soldiers Thursday at the Walter Reed Army Medical Center. They walked through the hospital wards and talked with the wounded, signed autographs, posed for pictures, and for Biffle, gained perspective.

“Everytime I come here, it’s a pretty overwhelming experience,” said Biffle … “This is my fifth year in a row coming. To see the dedication that these men and women have that have served our country and continue to serve our country, it makes you feel pretty small.

“Compared to what they have done and what they do for us … its a pretty grounding experience I think for all of us.”.

Read the whole article here.

If for no other reason, I love NASCAR because NASCAR loves our men and women in uniform.

We will not forget

Today my coworkers and I are throwing a surprise “bridal” lunch for a lady in our department who is getting married Saturday. All festivities and funnery aside, the general mood here is somber. Life may go on, but we still remember.

I remember where I was, and what I was doing. I remember thinking of those dear to me who were in and around the twin towers in New York. I remember hearing a coworker whose nephew worked at the Pentagon, calling, frantically trying to reach him.

With the nation, I watched helplessly as the North Tower belched black smoke and fire, burning what little remained of American Airlines Flight 11. I wept as images of United Airlines Flight 175 hitting the South Tower, then American Airlines Flight 77 hitting the Pentagon, emerged on the national news. I watched in horror as the South Tower collapsed, followed by the North Tower just a half an hour later.

Now, seven years later, my memory is just as clear as it was the day it happened. I pray that America never forgets, as I have not forgotten. I am proud to see that I am not the only one:

• Zoey says that she is not afraid
• Fausta remembers Joseph Angelini, Jr. on her blog and podcast, as well as here and here
• Michelle Malkin remembers
• Alexander City Outlook remembers Jimmie Ira Holley, an Alabamian killed in the 9/11 attacks
• The Birmingham News reports of memorial services held here in the city today
• 7.62mm Justice says the heartache still lingers
• BlackFive asks “Have you forgotten?”
• Villainous Company writes about the War of Words
• Hooah Wife and Friends remembers
• RightwingSparkle says Never Forget
• Soldiers’ Angels Germany remembers her visit to Ground Zero
• Blue Star Chronicles remembers Jason Thomas and Lt. Michael Warchola
• Darleen’s Place remembers
• And Rightly So can’t cry enough (I’m with you there, dear!) and posted this lovely poem
• Yeah, Right, Whatever will never forget
• CatHouse Chat remembers with “In Memoriam”
• Reasoned Audacity wonders “How Would Liberals Have Protected Us?”
• Theodore’s World remembers
• Nice Deb says Never Again
• See Jane Mom asks “Please observe a moment of silent rage.”

And last but not least, Chris Muir remembers in today’s edition of Day by Day:

We must always remember, and persevere.

Happy 4th

I hope everyone is having a happy Independence Day so far. Already I’ve seen a flurry of patriotic posts across so many of my favorite blogs this morning, but the best I’ve seen thus far would be my Cotillion sister Cassandra at Villainous Company who shares with us “Why I Am Patriotic: A Love Letter to America” — it’s a wonderful and beautifully written piece that, in my opinion, conveys so elegantly what so many of us truly believe.

Benjamin Franklin said, “Where Liberty dwells, there is my country.” Indeed this is my country, my home, my sweet land of Liberty. Enjoy today, sing the praises of those who have fought and remember those who are still fighting for the freedoms we enjoy.

May God bless us. May God bless those who defend us. And may God bless the United States of America, the land that I love.

Have a happy 4th!

Recommended Reading:

• How did you spend Independence Day?
• Why I Am Patriotic: A Love Letter to America
• Liberty Matters
• I am proud of my country because…
• Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death
• The Eternal Meaning of Independence Day
• The Eternal Meaning of Independence Day, part 2
• Independence Day!
• America, America, God Shed His Grace On Thee ….
• Fourth of July Tribute 2008
• The unanimous Declaration of the thirteen united States of America
• Happy Independence Day 08
• INDEPENDENCE DAY 2008 – The Necessary Holiday
• The Daily Dog: Independence Day.
• Happy Birthday, America
• Citizenship Test

Local Events

• Everything Fourth: Best spots to watch fireworks and more

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