Proud to be an American

And I'm proud to be an American, where at least I know I'm free,

and I won't forget the men who died, who gave that right to me and I'll proudly stand next to him to defend her still today, 'cuz there ain't no doubt I love this land, God bless the USA.      
                          ~Lee Greenwood

                          

I love this song, it sums up how I feel about this beautiful land that I love and I'm so grateful for our brave men and women who we honor this Memorial Day weekend by decorating their graves and we also remember our loved ones who have gone before us with floral tributes, too.  

This cemetery is where I placed flowers at the gravesites today of my parents, both sets of grandparents and my two brothers.   And numerous other relatives.  The tree in the center was planted by my father behind my mother's headstone over 30 years ago. 

I was surprised by the lack of flags this year.  Usually they have flags at all of the veteran's graves, but maybe they are just late getting it done this year.   I hope that the younger generations will remember our fallen heroes as well as their loved ones and continue this tradition of "Decoration Day" and not just let it be a 3 day holiday where they only think of barbeques and good times.   Let us never forget.  

The following poem is one that speaks to me.  

WHEN I AM GONE

When I come to the end of my journey

And I travel my last weary mile,

Just forget if you can, that I ever frowned

And remember only the smile.

Forget unkind words I have spoken;

Remember some good I have done.

Forget that I ever had heartache

And remember I've had loads of fun.

Forget that I've stumbled and blundered

And sometimes fell by the way.

Remember I have fought some hard battles

And won, ere the close of the day.

Then forget to grieve for my going.

I would not have you sad for a day,

But in summer just gather some flowers

And remember the place where I lay.

And come in the shade of evening

When the sun paints the sky in the west

Stand for a few moments beside me

And remember only my best.

                                     ~ Mrs. Lyman Hancock 

I always try to go to the cemetery in the evening, it is so peaceful.  So how about you?  Did you have someone whose gravesite you decorated with flowers?  

Have a wonderful weekend!

Until next time...

A break coming up

We had more than enough rain again.  Please go away until we need you.  And please, when you come again, don't pour so much at once!   Practice a little of that moderation that another blogger was talking about recently.  Thank you! 

I'm more than likely going to be taking a blogging break.  There's so much to do and so little time.  We will be out of town this coming weekend.  And we have several projects lined up to do, so that, along with my part-time job, will leave little time for the computer!  I hope to stop by some of my favorite blogs from time to time.   

Everyone have a wonderful week and I'll be back when I can!

Until next time...

A wonderful surprise!

What a wonderful day and a nice surprise! 

Hope you have had a nice Mother's Day, too.

We were getting ready to go out to eat.  I thought my husband and daughter were taking me out of town for a nice Mother's Day meal and I heard this voice coming from the living room saying "Dinner plans are canceled".  I thought to myself..."Hub's voice sure sounds different"...and then I said loudly, "What?"  And then I heard again, "Dinner plans have been canceled."  Then, I recognized that the voice was indeed my son and not my hubby's.   I was really surprised and so glad to see him!  It was the nicest surprise I have had in a while!  And the first Mother's Day that he has been able to be here in a long time. 

I had thought that it would be nice to have him home today, but he had just driven to KC from San Antonio Friday with the remainder of his belongings and had a lot of work to do Saturday in getting settled in his new apartment.  So, I just thought that he would be too busy to drive in.  It is about 2 hours away.
  

He had called earlier and he sounded busy and said he was doing a little shopping and he was sorry but my card would be a little late.  What a kidder!  He was shopping for steaks, and other goodies so we would grill and eat here when he got here.  He had his sister in on the deal to stall us and keep us from going out earlier like we wanted to.  Frankly, I was getting a little aggravated because she was dragging her heels getting ready to go!  Now I know why!  Don't you just love a good surprise?  They really pulled a good one. 

The above card was from him and a reminder of days of old when he lived at home and had the messiest room in the universe.  He always finds the cutest cards.  The lovely bouquet of lilies in the first pic are from him, too.  

This was the sweet card from my daughter.  My little point and shoot camera doesn't take the best close-ups and this card is really pale pink! 

She gave me a beautiful purse that I had looked at one day when we were shopping.  I love purses and this was a welcome gift.

We had a wonderful meal and a good visit.  The time just flew by.  The whole weekend was very nice although very cool and windy.  I think we are having what they call a "blackberry winter".  That is when is turns pretty cool or cold after the blackberries start blooming.  Well, this is Missouri and you never know what will happen weather-wise.  I bought quite a few flowers for my pots Friday and Saturday, but had to leave them in the garage because there was danger of frost last night! 


Until next time...

No time

No time, no time....

That song by the Guess Who, popular in the 60's, kept running through my mind last night!  Don't ask me where it came from...couldn't tell ya!  And guess what?  The old tune is still spinning this morning!  Hmmm.  Wonder what it all means?  If anything. 

Do you feel like you have enough time to get everything done you want to do or do you feel as I do sometimes that there is never enough time?  For me, it's probably because I'm slower than I used to be.  Oh, I can type really fast, I can read really fast...but just about everything else has slowed down considerably. 

Like right now I need to be getting ready for work.  I want to stop by one of my favorite little shops before I go.  They are only open a few hours Wednesday through Saturday.   I don't know if they allow photos of the shop inside.  If I have time, I'll try to get some.  Eek...there's that word...time...again.   Hope you have a splendid day!!

Until next time...

A good week and weekend

I have enjoyed the last week so much!  It was so nice to finally feel like myself again (I was sick for a week or more with a nasty virus) and then I got to see a dear friend of mine who now lives in Oregon.  We were in school together and have been friends ever since.  It had been four years since she and her husband were last here in MO.  She came in alone this time to go to an aunt's 100th birthday celebration.  We went to lunch last Monday and had a good visit.  The neatest thing happened...an older gent came into the little cafe where we were eating and ordered a meal, ate it and left.  We didn't know it until we asked for our check, but he had paid for our meal, too, when he left!  How kind and generous! 

We had a good weekend in spite of more rain.  My daughter and I took a road trip to Moberly.  We stopped by an interesting shop and browsed around.  Then we stopped by a couple of parks to see what they looked like this time of year.

Here are a few pics I took:

 The above pics are in a small park called Lion Beuth Park.

It was so quiet and peaceful there with many birds

singing, geese swimming and a few people were fishing

in the small lake.

We walked across the interesting bridge that was once

part of a train and a boy came along and threw a line out.

He said he hadn't had any luck so far! 

This lake is in Moberly's largest park.  We were 

at the other end of the lake and tried to get a

photo there, but too many people were strolling 

around and feeding the geese! 

We had lunch at Golden Corral and did some more shopping and before long it was time to head for home.  A good day spent with my daughter.

Hubby stayed home and went looking for mushrooms, but didn't find any.  They seem to be a little scarce so far this year.

We heard from our son who had driven a U-Haul full of his belongings from Texas to KC over the weekend.  He flew back to Texas today and will drive up to KC next Fri. when his apt. will be available.  He stored his things in a friend's garage for now.  We will be going to see him when he gets settled in.  It sure will be great having him closer.  But he will still have to fly back and forth to Texas for work until someone can take over his territory there.  His job requires him to do a lot of traveling, so it won't be anything new for him.  

I hope everyone has a great start to the new week!

Until next time...