Random Dozen is BACK!

Oh, Linda, how I missed you this summer!  She's back with a new Random Dozen.  To play along, answer the questions, then click on the above button and link up.  Then all you have to do is go visitin'!

1. When was the last time you laughed until you cried?

   A few weeks ago, at one of the Speech Pathologists' Meeting.  I have no idea what we were talking about, but it really struck me as funny.  We have a really good, fun group.

2. If you found $10 today, what would you do with it?

Starbucks, baby!

3. Do you volunteer anywhere?

Not unless getting roped into helping the high school band counts.  I'm getting way too old

for that stuff!

4. What is your favorite summertime veggie or fruit, and how do you eat it?

There's nothing like watermelon on a hot summer day!  When I buy one, I cut the whole thing up.  Oh, and I buy seedless...it's too much trouble to spit out the seeds!

5. Is your social sphere (circle of friends) small, medium or large?

I'd have to say small.  I have a lot of acquaintances, but true friends?  I have sisters.  I was telling someone the other day that friends will come & go, but a sister is there forever.  No matter what.

(Wish I had a picture to insert here!  I need to figure out how to work the scanner!)

6. When was the last time you attended a family or school reunion? How did that go?

I just had my 30th high school reunion over the summer.  It was good to see everybody, but by the time I graduated, I really didn't run around with anyone from my class.  I was ready to move on.  So, when some of them were talking about things that happened our senior year, I just sat there.

I'm a member of the largest family reunion in Tx.; they have the reunion every other year.  I had originally made plans to go, but decided against it.  There are usually over 1000 people there, and I only know a handful.   Maybe in 2 years!

7. When you're feeling blue, what is the best way someone can cheer you up?

Bring me chocolate.

8. Have you taken a vacation this summer?

Husband, YS, and I went to DC for a quick 2 days.  It was a "working vacation" for husband, but it was a good 2 1/2 days.

9. What is the most unnecessary item you carry with you all the time?

Lipstick  I probably have 10 tubes in my pocketbook, but only use a couple.  My favorite lip thing is Burt's Bees:  Watermelon.  There is also a Neutrogena lipstick that is coming in a close 2nd.

10. What is the best summer flick you have seen so far?

Book of Eli.  Incredible.  Denzel Washington never ceases to amaze me.

11. Describe a perfect summer day.

Waking up to the sound of waves, breakfast on a deck overlooking the ocean, reading & sleeping in a chair under an umbrella on the beach, dinner at a seafood restaurant, followed by lounging on the deck until it's too dark to see.  Here's the funny thing:  I think the beach would be the perfect place if it wasn't for all that sand!  

12. Please a share a favorite photo from the summer so far!

 

 I absolutely love this picture.  It was taken in Cades Cove this June.  Husband's uncle & lady friend were here from Denmark.  We were just driving into The Cove, and the horses were running across the pasture to get food.  It rained earlier in the day, and there were a lot of low clouds.   You may have to click on the picture  to enlarge it in order to enjoy all of the beauty.

Reminiscing the 4th

Believe it or not, I did not watch fireworks last night.  In fact, I haven't really seen any since we went to DC and saw fireworks while we sat at the National Mall.  Nothing can compare to this sight:

That 4th of July stands out in my mind for obvious reasons.  Another 4th that stands out in my mind is one that we spent with my in-laws.  OS must have been 2, and we went down to their house to spend some time at the beach.  We went to the Army Post where my FIL was stationed for the fireworks.  There was just something really emotional to be surrounded by men and women who love this country so much that they would be willing to give their life so that we can continue to enjoy the freedoms we have.

Our small town used to have "Freedomfest" (but it wasn't held on the 4th...it was held the weekend before), and it actually grew to be fairly large.  It became more of a festival feel (thus the "fest"!) with a lot of different booths around the park, and the swimming pool in the middle of the activities.  A radio station from the big city would come and give stuff away.  Streets around the schools & swimming pool were blocked off.  (Fortunately we live close  enough that we could walk down and enjoy the festivities.)  The night ended with the fireworks being shot over the duck pond.  This was  the biggest 4th festival in our county, so there were thousands of people who came.  Some people  even came from other counties to celebrate with us.  But, due to the economy, Freedomfest was put on hold last year.   This year:  no Freedomfest either.  There are just too many other things that need the money more...like the schools. 

One of my brothers and his wife usually invite the family over for swimming and a day of talking, laughing,  and  enjoying each other.  Last year they went to see their oldest son & his wife instead, so the 4th was extremely quiet around here.  This year, the celebration was revived!  What a great day we had!  It was hot, but a little overcast.  It was so much fun being in the pool with nephews, nieces, siblings, and their grandchildren.  There may have been one or two squirt gun fights.  And, somebody may have been squirted by somebody's grandson (at Grams urging) when all she had was a little bitty squirt toy.  You use what you've got, right?  

I took some pictures, but, since I don't know if my siblings want their picture to be on my blog, I'm not going to post those.  Well, except for this one:

I'm posting this one because my sister, Tina, also has a blog.  If you haven't checked it out, take a minute and go visit her.

I have to show you this video from yesterday.  My brother has 2 dogs, Joey & Chandler (from Friends, get it?) who are hoots!  If you squirt Joey with the water gun, he'll try to eat the water and growl.  Here's a clip of one of my nephews squirting him:

 Those kids stayed in the pool all day, except to eat.  We had some really good food, but have you ever heard anybody say they went to a get-together  and had bad food?    Just something for you to think about!


Hope everyone had a safe and happy 4th!

Mini-Vacation

This is one view that, if I lived in the area, I don't think I'd ever get tired of seeing:

Yep, that's right!  Our mini vaca was to Washington D.C.!  It was pretty hazy when we were there, so I didn't get the clearest pictures of the views.  It was a great 2 1/2 days!  I went to some places I had been before:

 And saw some things for the first time:

We stayed near the Iwo Jima Memorial.  The last 2 times we went to D.C., somehow we had missed it.  Husband, YS, and I walked over Sunday evening, right at dusk.  It amazes me how much bigger everything really is!  And, what an amazing site to see when we looked over to  the District:

And, on our way over to the memorial, we saw a stealth bomber (lower collage:  lower  right corner).  It was amazing...it looked like a kite flying in the sky.

Monday YS & I hopped on the metro and met the rest of  Husband's family at Union Station.  (Husband had to work out of their DC office.)  We went by the Capitol, Botanical Gardens (upper right corner of lower collage), Air & Space Museum, Jefferson Memorial, Lincoln Memorial (complete with the obligatory yelling for Jenny!), Vietnam Memorial, Korean Memorial, WWII Memorial, Smithsonian Art Museum, and, of course, the Washington Memorial was in view everywhere we went.  SIL & I thought we stayed way too long in the Air & Space  Museum,  but the guys were having a lot of fun.  They could've stayed in there all day; the girls were ready to get out of there!  Husband met us for dinner after work at BIL & SIL's house.  Then, we hopped back on the metro to go back and rest up for the next day.

Tuesday YS & I hopped back on the metro to meet everybody so we could go to Mt. Vernon.  We stayed there all morning. We saw a good-sized Tom Turkey (who made his presence known with his gobbles!), and, we saw an osprey in her nest:

At one point we saw her come  back to her nest with a fish for her babies.  No  picture, though. I figured it would take me too long to get the camera to the right setting, so we  just sat back and enjoyed the view.  We also saw a bald eagle. Nothing says freedom or USA better than seeing bald eagles & turkeys at the home of our first President!

After lunch, we went by the Pentagon to the Pentagon Memorial.  I have to be  perfectly honest with you: I didn't even know it existed, but my MIL recommended it.  I didn't take any pictures of it, because my SIL scared me to death...pictures of the Pentagon aren't allowed, but I  wasn't sure if it was  okay to take pictures of the memorial, so I didn't even get my camera out.  Go here to see a picture of it.  I was a little surprised that there wasn't a plaque explaining it, and I didn't see anything online  explaining it.  And, you need a little bit of an explanation.  Each of the little benches represents each person who was killed.  The name is inscribed on the bench, and they are organized youngest to oldest.  There is a plaque on the wall of each column of benches with the year each person was born.  If the person had relatives who also perished,  their names are inscribed in the reflecting pool under each bench.  The part of the bench that is off of the ground:  If it faces the Pentagon, they were on the plane; if it  faces away from the Pentagon, they were  in the building.  The reason for that is that it was the last view the person had before they died.  I had chills when my SIL was telling me about it...it was very surreal walking through the memorial.  The benches looked like the tail wing of an airplane  to me. I didn't see any mention of that, so I'm wondering if that's what the architects intended. 

Next up was Arlington.  We got to the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers just as the Changing of the Guard was ending, but we did get to see the wreath laying ceremony.  Incredible. What a view with the tomb looking out toward DC, and then to hear Taps being played.  I might have had to wipe a tear or two from my eyes.

I don't know why, but I was amazed at the disrespect shown by groups of kids when we were there.  They were running, laughing, being very loud.  I thought my BIL was going to have a fit. you would think that the adults would have had a hold on it.  And, these weren't elementary school kids; they appeared to be middle to high school age.  When we were at the Eternal Flame, 2 girls came  up to the graves and were practically yelling.  I  shushed them;  one apologized.  I know, I'm such a witch, but I had  run out of my Black Cohosh!

We had dinner at an Eastern European restaurant near BIL & SIL's house.  Husband rode the metro out after work.  Dinner was quite an experience!  First, they didn't have a table for all 9 of  us to sit, so they ended up putting us in 2 booths.  25 minutes after we were seated, the waitress (who I think is one of the co-owners) came by to get our drink order.  SIL started to order her dinner, but was stopped and told to just tell her what she wanted to drink.  We were tired; we were  hungry...Nothing else needs to be said.  And, I was out of Black Cohosh.  So, no, we were not happy!  We got our food about an hour after that, and, I'll be the first to admit, it was excellent.

After dinner, Husband, YS, and I said our goodbyes to everybody and went back  to where we were staying.  Husband had a meeting Wed. so we had planned on leaving as soon as he was finished.  YS & I headed out to the National Cathedral Wed. morning.  YS was great as long as we were on the subway, but when we had to switch to a bus, it was a different story.  In typical 15-year old fashion, I heard, "Why are we even going to this?  I'd rather go to Aunt's house and play Wii Fit."   Uh....no.  Aunt had had 4 extra people in her house since Sat. night...she was ready for some peace &  quiet.  So, I went through the Cathedral quickly...by myself.  You know, it really isn't very fun to see something of that magnitude by yourself...and to be in a hurry knowing that there's somebody waiting for you.  But oh, was it magnificent!

So, that's the wrap-up of the mini-vacation.  On the schedule for the next visit to DC:  A tour of the Capitol and an actual tour of the Cathedral.

If anyone doesn't know about Black Cohosh:  It's wonderful!  It's an all natural herb that the Indians used during childbirth. Now it's used to minimize menopause symptoms.  My gyno in SC (who was Indian but grew up in Montgomery, Al.) recommended it.  It works so well that Husband wants to get a black cohosh lick installed in our house!  Definitely helps with the moodiness.

Thanks for stopping by so I could share the vaca with you!