Happy Independence Day!

July 4, 2007 · 4 comments

We celebrated our independence today by doing a whole lot of nothing, making funfetti (american flag style) cupcakes, eating homemade mac & cheese and mowing the lawn.  We followed that up by cleaning the garage and hanging out with the neighbors and doing some fireworks and sparklers.  Lest you think I take for granted the freedoms we are given, my flag is out every day, not just today.  I always get chills when hearing the national anthem and I am a believer in the pledge of allegiance.  I am immensely thankful for the freedoms we have in this country, though I have to admit that I don’t believe in all most of the fights we fight in the name of freedom, nor do I always think that having the freedoms we do are appreciated or even necessary. I wish our men and women overseas were there on humanitarian missions, not war – freedom to eat and live and thrive are the kinds of freedoms that are deserved worldwide, by all people. And I don’t think America is the be all, end all. We do many things very wrong that other countries do quite right.  Alas, today is not (hehe) the day for politics!  Instead, check out my boys!

p_sparkler.jpg m_sparkler.jpg boys_july4.jpg

My son made up 2 new words today:

  • Gihugeous (describing fireworks on television)
  • Iamn’t  – new contraction – for I AM NOT

Went out to lunch and pedicure with Shine yesterday.  It was so lovely to be out of the house and relaxing! We had a nice lunch – the weather was just nice enough to eat outside – and even had time to do a little browsing at a local gift shop.  I introduced her to the Iced Capp Supreme from Timmy Ho’s and just about had her giving up her diet (NOT! I would’ve ripped that thing out of her hand and tossed it out the window first – she looks fantastic!).

Something a little odd did happen – somehow we got on the topic of 9/11 while we were getting our pedicures. My pedicurist has always been a little rough around the edges, but I can hang because she’s generally not offensive or anything, and I can pretty much laugh off anything.  But she was talking about an Arabic woman at the grocery store on that day and how the cashier went off on her and she was glad and I was thinking *this* is what is wrong with our world.  Now, obviously, on that horrid day tensions were very high and people were looking (needing) to blame someone, but seriously, that kind of stuff is the problem.  Alas, this is a blog for another day when I’m feeling a bit more serious and provoked.

So, guess what song I heard yesterday, not once, but TWICE?!  It’s Raining Men!  Dude.  Seriously?!

Another subject we touched on yesterday was the charity of celebrities / gazillionaires – mostly Oprah.  Look, I think Oprah does fabulous work – she’s got that whole Angel Network thing and she opened up that school for girls in Africa – seriously, fabulous stuff.  But WHY can’t she open up a new school around here (the collective here, not specifically here)?  How about helping some homeless in your own town, state, country??  There are people around the world that need help; there are countries where I can’t understand how people have survived for so long or continue to – they need help, this I totally agree with.  But if you’re a bazillionaire, why can’t you spread some money around and do stuff locally and globally??  And I don’t just mean spread some money around and make yourself look good, but really DO something.  Build some shelters and staff them;  help people who are willing to work find it; help that smart little girl who is stuck in the projects and whose biggest goal is not to get caught in crossfire; help that young girl realize that having a baby at 16 isn’t the way to start a life – help her find self-esteem and confidence that doesn’t come from popularity or sex.  Oh, and how about making the American adoption process easier so that people don’t immediately jump to adopt kids from other countries because they just can’t wait anymore.  (Note that I’m not saying make it crappy, just fund it better so that it happens easier and faster!)  Just DO something!!  Hell, just do something here in Michigan – our economy is the crappiest in the nation!!!

Ok, stepping off my soapbox now.  I could and should do more, too, even though I’m not even close to wealthy. But I try.  I recycle, I reuse, I donate to charity, I give to homeless people when I can. I’m trying to raise my boys to be polite and generous.   And I’ll keep working on it.

On a completely separate note:  Scott Baio is 45.. and still single.  New reality show on VH1 that I think I might have to check out!

{ 4 comments… read them below or add one }

<![CDATA[amanda]] July 5, 2007 at 5:41 am

Love this! True, true, true. It does seem at times that cuases overseas are tended to more vociferously than those right here at home. I just read that it\'s been 23 years since Sixteen Candles…how can that be?

Reply

July 5, 2007 at 12:41 pm

Love this! True, true, true. It does seem at times that cuases overseas are tended to more vociferously than those right here at home.

I just read that it’s been 23 years since Sixteen Candles…how can that be?

Reply

<![CDATA[Shine]]& July 8, 2007 at 2:23 pm

I should have never mentioned 9/11- it got way to deep for a pedicure small talk!! I was glad when we started talking about mattresses!! 🙂 Had a nice time too and I think I will be skipping the TH Carmel Iced Cap from now on- I didn\'t lose this week!! Big surprise after that burger, fries and drink at lunch though!! Let\'s do it again before summer is over!! 🙂

Reply

July 8, 2007 at 9:23 pm

I should have never mentioned 9/11- it got way to deep for a pedicure small talk!! I was glad when we started talking about mattresses!! 🙂 Had a nice time too and I think I will be skipping the TH Carmel Iced Cap from now on- I didn’t lose this week!! Big surprise after that burger, fries and drink at lunch though!!

Let’s do it again before summer is over!! 🙂

Reply

Cancel reply

Leave a Comment

Previous post:

Next post: