In remembrance. Jesus Hernandez. Korean War.

Memorial day signals the entrance into summer and a day off from life's grind.

All across our country, family and friends gather for picnics and cook-outs, looking forward to apple pie and homemade potato salad. Kids frolic in the afternoon air and feel the cool grass bend beneath their feet. Parents relax in their lawn chairs savoring life's sweet blessings.

And all this freedom made possible by those like-minded individuals who made the ultimate sacrifice for something bigger than themselves.

I thank you.

linking to the survey junkie

Nestlings

Each morning I step out onto the deck and quietly position myself to my knees. I pull back the outdoor rug and press my forehead to the deck floor.

Peering through the floor boards, I focus my eyes and take a quick scan of the area below; each time a flash of panic races through me. I wonder for a moment if the night's rain has done any damage or if mama bird could find food that day.

Quelling my fears, I see that my little friends are a bit stronger and a little hairier.
Their beaks point upward to me and I gently replace the rug.

My front row seat to the theater of nature is reserved again tomorrow.

No flash was used so I wouldn't disturb them too much.

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The Girl Creative

Pick-up lines

Even C Dog sports the Silly Bandz

What's your sign?

Do you have a map because I get lost in your eyes.

Aside from being beautiful, what do you do for a living?

Are you from Tennessee because you're the only ten I see.

Do you believe in love at first sight or should I walk by again?

These and other cheesy pick-up lines may be heard across the country in bars, on college campuses; work even. I don't know why guys resort to these. As ice breakers I guess - a way to bring in humor because no one can possibly take these seriously and think they will work, do they?

I kinda liked the normal approach, "Hi, my name is___." Or "Would you like to dance?" although I guess that would have been weird had we not been at a nightclub... In college it was, "Are you in on or off-campus housing?" or "Where are you from?" or "My roommate wants to know if you'd go out with him."

In my high school there were never any situations that involved cheesy lines. I met my husband in high school and I think it was an innocent, "Would you like to come over and have dinner with my family?" question that cemented our acquaintance to a real friendship. I did have dinner with them and we all played Trivial Pursuit afterward. I felt stupid for answering the Disney and pop culture questions correctly while they answered all of the smart questions correctly. You could tell who watched PBS and who didn't. But I liked them right away and have had many dinners there since.

And I like PBS now. Oh, and I'm better at Trivial Pursuit.

So, the other day as Jon was going through the check-out at our locally owned supermarket, Reese, our 8 year old, noticed the pretty, teen-aged employee.

Jon had to laugh when he heard Reese ask her,

"So what kinds of Silly Bandz do you have?"

Welcome the new Elementary School ice breaker...

Anecdotal Inn

**DISCLAIMER** If you find that the following situation sounds familiar to you, it's pure coincidence. Names and dates have been omitted to protect the innocent.

(Or rather, protect me from litigation, ahem...)

What I overheard at a hotel's front desk...

The scenario...

A guest's young child went to the breakfast area (alone) to make a cup of hot chocolate. The child couldn't quite reach the bar-height counter. It holds all of the coffees, teas and hot water carafes. While the child was trying to pour hot water into the cup, he/she spilled the water on him/herself. It did not seriously burn but it was hot. The guest, upset that her child may have been burned, went to the manager to complain.

"Do you realize that children cannot reach the hot water and coffee pots?" she asked. "You need to lower the counters so they can reach."

My suggestion to the hotel:

Lower the counters right after you install the toddler knife-sharpening station. And while you're at it, leave the waffle irons on in case they want to make themselves a midnight snack.

The customer is always right, right??

Watch and laugh

I love a good impersonation and this one is especially good.

I saw The Stones in concert a long time ago when it was supposed to be their final tour. So thinking it was the end of The Stones and wanting to witness this historical event, my brother Blair and I drove up to Vancouver for the show and our mom came along for the ride.
I think they've toured ever since.

But, I did get to see the famous rooster dance.

Enjoy!
(commercial is short)

Late Night with Jimmy Fallon - Mick Jagger Introduces "Stones in Exile" (5/14/10) - Video - NBC.com

Weekend tornado

The only thing I touched in the house all weekend was the door handle; running in to grab a bite and running out to be at the next appointment. Chores went by the wayside so today I will begin clean-up after the tornado that swept through here. Girl's camp meeting, Les Mis tryouts, photo sessions and church took up the whole weekend but it was good and fun!

We also got a new family mascot which was the highlight of the kids' weekend, maybe month - probably year.

Weekend overview-

Justin, a Senior, did a great job and is such a great kid. The biggest smile he gave was when Jon asked, "Isn't Kim Kardashian dating Justin Bieber?" It was funny.

Josh, another Senior, was a natural with his poses. He and Jon threw the football while I set up shots and checked lighting.

This sweet baby, Ender, has a great smile
and will someday melt more hearts with those super blue eyes.


And introducing...
the new additon to our family, Charli, the Jack Russell Terrier.
He was given to us by some friends.

My second oldest daughter is also named Charley but the family took a vote and decided that the dog Charli gets to keep her name. "Human Charley" as the kids say, will have to change hers.

Sorry, Charley.

Reese asked me to take pictures of them posing alike - such a funny kid.

A good weekend it was!

My goat was gotten

I love how she dresses herself!

The other day I found myself saying, "that's one of my pet peeves" to just about everything it seemed. How many did I really have, I wondered? I never thought I had so many since I've always considered myself to be pretty mellow and don't get worked up about that much.

Recently my daughter was riding in a car with some friends from church and there was a funny incident involving a hyper kid. The parents driving, not the hyper kid's, asked Belen after the ride was over if it bugged her. She said, "Noo, I'm used to it." And the parent's reply was, "Of course it wouldn't, being from the subdued family." I credit that solely to Jon and his 3rd grade sense of humor and his funny outlook on life.

But, worried that I really do have a lot of pet peeves, I began to mentally take note of the things that bug me.

On my list were tailgaters - not the kind that cook at football games, I like those. The kind who make it look like I am towing them because they drive so close to me. Or maybe they just really want to crash into me and have their insurance rates increase when I stop for pedestrians.

Oh yeah, that was another pet peeve - people who don't stop for pedestrians, especially when they (we) are walking to school. Recently, I saw a girl cross the street and drop her coat in the crosswalk.

She went to move to go back and pick it up.

I said "Oh no!" out loud as I saw a car not slowing for the crosswalk. (I was third in line at the stop sign across from her.) The girl thought better of it and ran to the sidewalk leaving her coat behind. She watched it get run over and then went to retrieve it. It happened so quickly but thankfully, a car stopped to let her cross and retrieve the coat.

I wanted to jump around the cars, hunt down the driver and kick the crap out of them, to be perfectly honest.

Another on my list were people who don't use turn signals.

And then it hit me...

I don't have a lot of pet peeves.

I just have road rage.

Is that all it was?? Well, OK then.

Do you have any thing that just gets your goat too?

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