many thanks for our veterans

Seeing as it's Veteran's Day, I want to send out a huge, heartfelt THANK YOU to all of the brave men and women who fight or have fought for our feedom and safety. I admit there are times I'm guilty of taking for granted the security I have from day to day, but I do know, if not for our veterans, we would have an entirely different existence -so I say it today, but I hold it in my heart always, thank you, thank you, thank you for all that you do on behalf of our country.



The flower of rememberance in honor of those who have given thier lives for the nation's freedom.

On a separate, but not entirely unrelated, note; last night my oldest son Andrew, who turned 17 a couple of weeks ago, casually informed me that he and a friend had gone to see a Marine recruiter yesterday afternoon. When he told me, I'm not gonna lie, my first reaction was complete and utter fear -the idea that my boy might ever be in harms way leaves me nauseous, with deep, sharp pains in my heart. Next, I was shocked and then pretty bent that he would do this without talking to his dad and I first. He went on to explain that he had only gone along for the ride with his best friend (who turns 18 tomorrow) to see the recruiter who had been "bugging him" to come in. Since he was there, the recruiter asked Andrew to take some sort of placement test, which apparently he scored well on, and then, as Andrew tells it, the guy says he can pretty much do anything he wants. *sigh* My boy is all about doing whatever he wants, so that must have been music to his ears.

I must say that, while I was irritated to hear about this "appointment" after the fact and that my mommy radar kept screaming that my kid was being taken advantage of, today, I realized that ultimately, when the time comes, the choice will be Andrew's. I love him beyond measure and have a profound pride that this tall gangly kid, who's smart as a whip (maybe too smart for his own good) is growing into an amazing young man. Yes, he's given his dad and I a pretty good run for our money these past few years and continues to present us with challenges as parents but he is a good boy and I am just going to pray that he makes well informed choices and keep the faith that God will be watching over him.

get out and VOTE!! -or shut your cake hole.

Pile your dishes in the sink, walk past that mountain of dirty laundry, wedge a hat down over your bushy old bed-head and GO VOTE!! Okay, so that's just my plan but cereally, people, if you don't get out and do the voting thang, I do NOT wanna hear ya bitchin when you aren't happy with what's going on -you vote, you can bitch all ya want. I am absolutely floored when I hear peeps say things like 'my vote doesn't matter', 'I haven't really been following things, I don't know what's what'. It grates on me, what a lackadaisical 'take care of me' society we've become, that people can't even be bothered to put out the effort to educate themselves on the issues that shape our future. It's not rocket science -crap, even my 14 and 17 year old boys know what's going on in the political arena {and yes, I'm disgustingly proud!}... it's not that hard, people!

Folks are expressing concern about having to {gasp} stand in long lines "just to vote" -yet (*irony alert*) those bellyachers are probably the same peeps who are willing to get up at 3am to {gasp} stand in mile-long lines, in the cold and dark, smashed against other crazies waiting to throw down over a good deal on the the latest greatest wii game. *gaah* I know lines are probably going to be long today (which actually, is a good thing, meaning that people are doing their part & having their say), so don't tell Clinton and Stacy, lest I end up on an episode of What Not to Wear, but I'm wearing my sweats and sporting my comfy tennies... yes, out. in. pub-lic. I'm gonna take a snack, because mama can't concentrate when her tummy is growling, a drink -let's hope this isn't the year they start making us take a breathalyzer before we vote! (kidding people, kid-ding!) and a book, which I probably won't even open because this will be a primo people watching opportunity! Yeah, I'm good to go.

Leafa McBirdie -out gettin me vote on! yeeee-ooow!