TOUGH DAYS

Several of my friends are having tough days. One is battling leukemia and another is taking on the fight against cancer. Both are having chemotherapy and the latter gentleman is also doing radiation and is beginning a medical trial for a new drug. His personal method of attack is to blog about everything he is going through AND he is writing songs. He has long dabbled in the song writing as a hobby. He is aggressively writing and copyrighting the songs. He is putting some of them on YouTube. If you are interested in hearing them the link is www.YouTube.com/creatherapyproject. As of this moment there is one song that he wrote in the 80's and it is a bluegrass. It is fun to listen to. Just a warning - he is a country writer. No heavy metal or hip-hop. I do marvel at the ability to create, whether it is writing stories, creating songs (both in the lyric and notes), or creating art. Those are people I envy.

AND THE HEAT GOES ON

There is not much new to report, hence the fact that there have not been many blogs. I did play golf both Tuesday and Wednesday. Tuesday we played mid-day and the heat did get to me. Wednesday we played at 8 am and I was not as affected however at lunch we ate outside under an awning with virtually no circulating air and it did affect several of the women. I was very glad to be home later and begin to cool down. We ate mediterranean last night and will have mexican tomorrow night. Tuesday we drove out to the river and had yellow perch. It was a perfect night with clouds covering the sun and enough breeze to keep you cool but not cold. Next week JR has his knee surgery and I expect that we will be eating at home a bit more and I should probably be nice and do the cooking.

GARAGE SALE

Last week was another 2 day garage at the in-laws home. While the garage sale was going on we all were still pulling things out of cupboards, garage and storage shed. Some finds were fabulous. We did find my mother-law's dolls in the storage shed. After the mouse jumped out of the box (yes you read that correctly) we discovered that the dolls had been part of his buffet and were ruined. We also came across her baby clothes and possibly her mother's baby clothes. There was a very nice muslin dress and a darling hat trimmed in purple with a feather. Both could be framed and saved for posterity. We also ran across pictures of my mother-in-law's grandparents. I took a picture of the pictures and those are posted above. The one of the gentleman was taken in the frame and hence the glare. My father-in-law's army uniforms with all the bells and whistles and a scrapbook of my mother-in-law's dancing days. Once I get those copied, I will post them. They are extraordinary.

GRANDKIDS ARE FUN

I cannot believe that it has been over a week since I last posted. I have been very busy and not feeling very creative. The family was in for the 4th and the parents went home on Monday and the two grandkids stayed until Wednesday. We went to the zoo and saw the baby polar bear, baby giraffe and had a ball watching the gorillas and orangutans. We saw Shrek and How To Train A Dragon at the movies. Their second cousin is an animator for How To Train Your Dragon. We stayed after to watch the credits and catch his name. On Wednesday we took them home without our grandson's Harry Potter book. We simply could not find it. It had disappeared. Naturally I found it Thursday morning tangled up in the guest room bedspread. We mailed it immediately and it arrived on Friday. Friday and Saturday we were down in Fostoria helping with the parents' garage sale. It was stinking hot and we were tired after the two days. During the garage sale we were still pulling stuff out of the shed, garage and for that matter house. The best was the mouse that jumped out of the box in the shed with my mother-in-law's dolls. Needless to say, he had been munching on them for awhile and they were ruined. Next week is also very busy and then it settles down for awhile.

4TH OF JULY

"Cause there ain't no doubt I love this land

God Bless the U.S.A" by Lee Greenwood

The 4th of July is by far my favorite of the three summer holidays. It is not just that the weather is great with warm temperatures and lots of sunshine but rather what the holiday means to me. It is a holiday for us. The "us" is represented in the Constitution of the United States as in "We, the People of the United States,". It is also in the first letter of United States. It is a celebration of our country. We are not perfect but I truly love this country. I love the patriotic songs - America the Beautiful; My Country 'Tis of Thee; The Star Spangled Banner; the different songs representing the branches of the Armed Forces and of course the folksy song God Bless The USA by Lee Greenwood. We were fortunate to attend a picnic followed by fireworks last night. I know that it was not the 4th but I actually celebrate all month. I have attached a few pictures from the fireworks. Enjoy!