Happy Independence Day!
I hope you all have a very blessed Independence Day! We are headed out soon for a parade and then a picnic. Have a wonderful day filled with family, friends and community!
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"Don't be dismayed at good-byes. A farewell is necessary before you can meet again. And meeting again, after moments or lifetimes, is certain for those who are friends."
~~Richard Bach
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Entries Tagged as 'holidays'
Remembering D-Day
Today is the Day we Commemorate the invasion of Normandy at Omaha Beach. I am sorry I did not blog about D-Day earlier today. I made note first thing on D-Day last year.
I thought you all might be interested to know that Google did do a “D Day” graphic for today. I kid you not. Here it is:
Happy D-Day…
Actually they are commemorating Remembering Diego Velazquez Day. I am glad that they were able to come up with a serious enough graphic for such a serious holiday.
Memorial Day — I think that Google forgot!
The more things change the more they stay the same. This was the scenario from last year — both Memorial Day and Veteran’s Day were completely ignored by Google. I think it’s time for me to go through and get rid of my Google products. I got rid of Blogspot, now I need to get rid of Picasa, Google search, Google Analytics and anywhere else I see the big G. I appreciate Yahoo’s attention to this Holiday.
The Thunder Run has posted screen shots of both major search engines, take a peek, but you won’t be surprised.
Have a grateful holiday!
I know that we are all bombarded during this holiday with sales, cook outs, visits with friends and family and a nice day off from work. Please while you are enjoying yourself, and enjoying your family, take a moment to remember our fellow citizens who have died in wars, past and present. We would not be able to enjoy these daily indulgences, and our freedom if it were not for their selfless sacrifice. Freedom is a costly commodity these days, and we have many enemies that hate our freedom and who hate us for it.
Where would we be today if our soldiers would not fight and defend us, or freedom? The thought makes me shudder.
Remember also, all of our soldiers in Iraq, Afghanistan or other deployment destinations, who are not with their families this weekend. Remember those who are deployed and maybe eating an MRE or nothing at all for their Memorial Day supper. Say a prayer for them and their safety. As a mother of a deployed soldier, I appreciate all the prayer that are uttered.
This weekend and tomorrow I implore you to have not just a happy Memorial Day, but have a thoughtful, reflective, and grateful one too!
Diagnosis? Chronic Humanity Syndrome
I have written many times on this blog about the fears I have had to battle since deployment. Fear of the known, fear of the unknown, fear of what lies ahead, fear of what was left behind, fears that I never knew existed. It has been a baptism by fire, to say the least, but it has been an incredible season of growth as well. Even though I am working through those fears and handling them better with each passing day, I have other struggles that are a residual affect of being in a very close and primary kinship position with a soldier who is deployed. [Read more →]
Armed Forces Recreation Center in Orlando
I found this on Stryker Brigade News last night. Mr. H! and I were really surprised. We didn’t know about this particular resource, so it was news to us. I thought I would post it in hopes of getting the news out there to more military families.
By DONALD G. McNEIL Jr., The New York Times
AS they enter through the Magic Kingdom gates, following signs with the familiar mouse ears, past the sighing of the monorail and the distant screams from Space Mountain, a few visitors take an unusual route, up a driveway just off the entrances to the Disney World golf courses.
There they find, atop an artificial rock formation, the flags of the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines and Coast Guard flapping in the Florida breeze. Beyond that lies a resort where there are a lot of high-and-tight crew cuts in the lobby, not to mention more lean physiques than elsewhere in Disney World. [Read more →]
A little something special for her on Mother’s Day
Don’t panic, men! You have not forgotten Mother’s Day! I am attempting to bring some attention to a new product put out by a trusted name, in hopes that it will bring an extra big smile to the faces of our deployed soldiers who are also mothers. The product is a Mother’s Day card, but not just any ordinary Mother’s Day card. These cards have a device contained within them that allows a personal greeting message to be recorded by the sender, and then heard upon opening the card, by the receiver. The company selling the product is none other than Hallmark. I think it is safe to say that every woman knows the name Hallmark, and every wise man knows where a close by Hallmark store can be found!
Who are these soldier moms?
Last year, for the Mother’s Day holiday, Congress released a report by the Joint Economic Committee titled:
MOTHER’S DAY REPORT: Helping Military Moms Balance Family and Longer Deployments”
The report highlights the demographics of mothers who serve in our Armed Forces today:
Today, women are a substantial part of the active duty force. Women make up approximately 14.3 percent of the active duty military.2 Approximately, 40 percent of women in the active duty force have children, compared to 44 percent of active duty men
Women are deployed to both Iraq and Afghanistan, and they too have faced the death of friends, close calls, wounds, and missing their families back home. According to the report,
“Since 2001, nearly half of all women in the active duty force (including reservists) have been deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. According to data from the Department of Defense in February 2007, 24,475 women are deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan. As of April 14, 2007, 85 women have lost their lives during U.S. military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. In addition, 474 women have been wounded in Iraq since the beginning of 2007.
I am not bringing you this news to depress you, but rather, I implore you to think of these women and to pray for them. Also keep in mind how difficult it must be for a “mother soldier” to be away from the very little ones who honored her with the wonderful title of “mother.”
I was contacted by a man representing Hallmark and was asked to consider the product as something I wouldn’t mind letting my readers know about. I will be getting a sample of the card, and I will record a message and let you all know its ease of use and its clarity.
This Mother’s Day please tell any families of deployed mothers that you know about the newest card from Hallmark. Another idea that may be a little late for this Mother’s Day is to buy some extra cards and send them to Iraq for deployed soldiers who would like to send a card like this to their mothers and wives. Just as hearing our voices reminds them of home, when we hear their voices it is a balm to the worry we live with. For those few precious moments we are breathing freely again. How nice to have a small card that you can tuck away just about anywhere, including your pocket book that has his/her voice contained within.
I know that nothing short of being home and with family seems small, but I think that having a recorded message proclaiming “Happy Mother’s Day!” in the voices of her loved ones, may make her feel just a little closer to her home.
April Fools Day
Well, if I had been a clever girl I would have done something to confuse and befuddle you this morning. Alas, you are stuck with the less than clever, but always practical Claire. One year when Mr. H! and I were dating one another I called him and told him I broke my foot. The sad part is, I am such a clutz that he totally believed me when I told him I was just walking and BAM fell to the ground and broke the foot. He never doubted it was possible… even for a moment. As a matter of fact, I may have had a hard time convincing him that I did not fall. Gee, when you are prank planning, be sure to not do something that will bruise your ego in the long run.
Have any of you pulled off any good pranks today, or had a good one pulled on you? I don’t mind a good prank being pulled on me once in a while. I have to be careful though because I am, what some experts would call, “gullible.” I am so gullible that if you were to tell me they took gullible out of the dictionary, I would get angry and wonder why.
The good thing about April Fools Day is the Presidential Candidates can finally talk for 24-hours without having to worry about apologizing for what they say. All they have to do is roll their eyes to the camera and say “Duh! It was a joke, people! Puh-lease!”
Have a nice one, folks