Flower Power!

I love flowers. They make me happy. Since I rarely receive flowers from any of my guys, I usually buy them myself while grocery shopping. Yesterday, I hit the mother lode. Our Safeway had just gotten in a supply of Gerbera daisies. Wow.

I got some for the dining room...white...with a couple of green hydrangeas thrown in...

Some for the kitchen table...one bouquet of yellow and a beautiful bouquet in orange with yellow centers.

Look how beautiful they are!

Nicky made a lovely potted plant holder for a Boy Scout project this week; he earned the Carpentry merit badge, one of the "historical" ones being offered only this year of the Centennial. He painted it his favorite color: red.

So I found a potted Gerbera daisy in bright yellow...the green wrapping detracts from it a bit, so I may remove the paper.

This is in the living room. Right by the TV.

Gotta love flowers!

A Dignified End

Last night our Boy Scout troop participated in our American Legion's annual Flag Retirement ceremony. This year the ceremony was preceded by the dedication of a new fire pit, built by 2 of our Scouts for their Eagle projects. One Scout built the pit (he was awarded his Eagle Scout badge in February) and the other Scout built the patio surrounding the pit (his Board of Review is next week).

JJ got to participate in the presentation of the flags, even though he technically is no longer a Boy Scout, having turned 18 last week:

Unfortunately, the cermeony had to be indoors, as the heavens opened right as everything was being set up outside. Thankfully, the rain stopped in time for us all to go outside for the retirement.

The troop waits with their flags for disposal ( Nicky is at the back).

Bryan, the potential Eagle Scout who built the patio, helps lay a flag on the grate for retirement.

The camera darkened a bit for this, but here is the fitting end to a good and loyal life.

Our troop and the general public pays their respects.

It's always an honor to participate in this ceremony. God Bless America.

He's Only Just Begun...

Thursday, June 10th, 2010...2 very special occasions. It's JJ's 18th birthday, and also his graduation day from high school.

Wow. How did we get here?

From this...

...to this.

Wow. My handsome, grown son. Wow.

The happy graduate with his Grandpa, Uncle Kurt, Aunt Lori from St. Louis, and Grandma.

With Uncle B and Aunt Stacie from Georgia.

And with the happy family...brother Nicky, Dad and Mom.

Congratulations, my JJ. And Happy Birthday. This is only the beginning!

Playing Tourist in My Own Town

My brother B and his wife Stacie are in town for JJ's graduation. Since Stacie has never been to Washington, we decided to take a whole day and see as much of DC as possible. We did a pretty decent job. :) We were exhausted! We must have walked over 10 miles.


Here's my brother and his obligatory pointing-at-something picture, in this case, the US Capitol. What a dufus!


Stacie's holding up some weird sculpture at the Sculpture Garden near the Smithsonian museums.


JJ and Nicky are with Aunt Stacie and Uncle B near the White House. The President was not at home on Tuesday. :)


B and Stacie doing their best impression of the Washington Monument.

The World War II Memorial--it's very awe-inspiring.


The Vietnam Memorial--The Wall. Wow. Too many names here. Way too many names.

I love this view down the National Mall from the Lincoln Memorial all the way to the Capitol. Beautiful.

JJ and Nicky pay their respects to Mr. Lincoln.


The Korean War Memorial. The detail in the faces is unreal. It really looks like the soldiers are looking right at you.

We also did the Air and Space, American History, and Natural History museums. It was a great day, but very tiring.

Washington is my kind of town...lots to see and do...and learn from.

For Those Who Served...

Happy Memorial Day! What a time to reflect on those who have served our country...those who came home, and those who made the ultimate sacrifice.

Saturday JJ and I had the privilege of participating in welcoming the 'Nam Knights, a motorcycle club that is a part of Rolling Thunder. This club comes to DC every Memorial Day and rides their cycles by Arlington Cemetery, across the Memorial Bridge into DC and spends time at the Vietnam Memorial, the Wall, and also at the Law Enforcement Memorial. Then the 'Nam Knights cycle out our way and attends a cookout at the American Legion that sponsors our Boy Scout troop. JJ and I and several members of our troop lined the driveway to the Legion and waved our flags and welcomed the bikers as they arrived.

Fire trucks from 2 local departments sent their ladder trucks out to hold the American flag over the driveway.

Very cool.

Here they come...around 150 bikes this year. Down a bit from last year, I understand, but it was still an overwhelming sight and rather loud. Thus the "Rolling Thunder" name.

I cut off JJ's flag in the picture, but he did a good job. It was very bright out!

Our Scout representatives: Cub Scout Jeffrey, committee member Mike, Jesse, JJ, Bryan, and committee member and Cubmaster Jack.

Thanks to all who serve our country and who have served.

Remembering today...my dad, who served 22 years as active duty in the Army and served 1 tour in Korea and 2 tours of Vietnam; all my uncles, who served various branches of the service for various lengths of time, and my father-in-law (still with us today), who served in the Navy.

We will never forget.

Happy Mother's Day!

These just arrived for me today...

Aren't they beautiful? Since Eric has been in New Orleans for the past nearly 2 weeks, he arranged for these to come for Mother's Day. They were 3 days late, and they ended up coming on Sunday, of all days! Not sure how he arranged that, but they are worth it!

Look at this rose...just beautiful.

Thanks to my wonderful family!

And here's to my wonderful mother-in-law...I'm off to call her now. And I'm missing my mom so much...I wish she could be here.

Happy Mother's Day to all the moms!

Escape from Alcatraz

It's been a while since I've posted here...life always seems to get in the way! I still have tons more pictures from vacation and several other events that have happened, so I'll just move on.

After walking the Golden Gate Bridge, we took an afternoon tour of Alcatraz Prison. We took a ferry from San Fran over to the island.

It was a lovely ride...except for the gull who followed creepily overhead. Was it the ghost of a past inmate? Or just a bird looking to leave a present on some poor unsuspecting tourist's head?

The island looms.

This is the processing area, where all the prisoners were showered, searched, and deloused. We just received our headsets for the audio tour here. Thankfully.

One of the cells. Very dark and small. Ew. And nasty. Ew.

I sure hope this isn't a sign of things to come!

This is "THE" cell...the one where the Great Escape happened. From Escape from Alcatraz. See the hole under the sink? They must have small men...that hole was not very big.

The menu board is still posted from the last day the prison was open. It doesn't look too terrible. Not too sure about stewed fruit, though.

We spent a little time in the recreation yard. The gang looks like they're ready for the firing squad, though!

Here's the view form the recreation yard. How awful it must have been to see this every day and not be able to go there. To hear the sounds of city life and be trapped on the island...wow.

It was a very interesting tour. The audio portion made the entire trip. If you go to Alcatraz, be sure and get a headset. The tour is narrated by former employees and inmates of Alcatraz. It was very personal.

Onward to Hollyweird!