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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)

For the love of metal

I was watching FoxNews just now with Jim, and a news snippet came on with Laura Ingle sharing the story of a heavy metal band from Baghdad, called Acrassicauda. The band members lived through missile attacks and death threats in order to try to play their music in their homeland. There’s a documentary, Heavy Metal In Baghdad, which chronicles their struggles and their journey to America as refugees.

The FoxNews snippet was quick but highlighted the band’s journey as well as well as featured my personal childhood heavy metal heroes, Metallica. It seems James Hetfield gave them the guitar off his back after their latest show in New Jersey.

While this is a great story, Acrassicauda is not the only band struggling for the freedom to pursue heavy metal dreams. Remember a while back when I highlighted a story about Brutal Impact, a heavy metal band from Iraq going through similar struggles? These are the two we’ve heard of so far … so how many more are out there?

Here’s a vid of Hetfield presenting the guitar:

OK, Metallica … you’ve done some really assholish things over the past few years, but that was just freakin’ sweet! Just for that, I created a new category for any ‘good’ posts that I write about you — “Ok, maybe they’re not so bad” LOL!

Seriously though, rock on, guys. Rock on!

Wander with me a while

Courtesy of Cookie, this video covers misconceptions that many Americans have about our country, government, and so forth. As the film’s creator says, “Prepare to be educated.”

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!

Reflection and call to action

I received a text message from a friend late last night which said:

“Now I know how you feel when Auburn wins.”

Jim woke me up last night to tell me the news. While the three-ring media circus leading up to this event is finally over, I could not shake this feeling of dread. I had to remind myself that even though the man I wanted to win did not, the one that did works for me and the other 300 million Americans who live in this great land!

Taking my cue from BlackFive, I will now stand up and demand that the man in charge listen. And I hope others will do the same.

Demand that President Obama not cut and run from Iraq or Afghanistan.

Demand that President Obama not allow tyrants and thugs to threaten us our the world with nuclear weapons.

Demand that he respect our constitutional rights regarding free speech and gun ownership.

Demand that our “wealth” will not be “shared” with some lazy, no account, welfare dirtbags who would rather have a hand-out than a hand up to something better.

Demand that President Barack Obama respect the sacrifices of the great men and women who keep this nation the last best hope for those that yearn for freedom and keep us from going gently into that good-night.

God bless those who have fought for our freedom to choose who we want to lead us. I think too often we forget how blessed we really are to live as free people. With that freedom comes responsibility, and that my friends, is in OUR HANDS.

“There is no nation on earth powerful enough to accomplish our overthrow. Our destruction, should it come at all, will be from another quarter. From the inattention of the people to the concerns of their government, from their carelessness and negligence. I must confess that I do apprehend some danger. I fear that they may place too implicit a confidence in their public servants and fail properly to scrutinize their conduct; that in this way they may be made the dupes of designing men and become the instruments of their own undoing.” — Daniel Webster

Stand, and be heard.

Civic Duty

I has done mine …

… have you?

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