Happy 50th Birthday Earth Day!

It's National Girl Scout Cookie Day

To my mind, there are few things as wonderful as Girl Scout cookies.  Don't get me wrong, there are better cookies (sorry, Girl Scouts), but there's just something wonderfully old-school about neighborhood girls knocking on your door asking you to purchase a box or two and then having to wait weeks and weeks (oh, the anticipation) for them to arrive.

There was a time when I bought lots and lots of cookies (an embarrassing amount, actually), as I shipped some overseas to a relative and to cookie-loving grandmothers far away and saved some for my own family, but these days I try to limit my purchase to just a few favorites. And, I always freeze a box or two so that about 7 or 8 months from now, everyone is delighted when I break out the Trefoils or Samoas or, let's face it, the Thin Mints.

At this year's Texas State Fair, the Girl Scouts had an entire exhibition hall celebrating the organization's 100th birthday. Despite the fact that I was a Brownie for just one short season, and here's the proof,

The Christmas ornament I made in Brownies. (You would have thought
40 years would have been long enough for me to replace the ribbon!) 

the exhibition was terrific, a real tribute to the past and founder Juliette Low, the present and the future.

I must admit I was pretty nostalgic as I took a glimpse of the orange paperback Brownie Handbook and the adorable uniform with its brown elastic belt.  I remember being particularly taken by the faux leather  tiny purse (I'll call it a pursette, for lack of a better word) that attached to the belt. It was so small, I'm not even sure what it was meant to hold.  Coins? A membership card, perhaps?  But that would be sort of silly wouldn't it, given that you were already wearing the uniform. Anyway, I was clearly sans my pursette when the photo above was taken, so here's a photo in case you are unfamiliar. Just to be clear, I did have my beanie on in the photo, it's just a little hard to see against the lovely hedge in my troop leader's back yard.

At the State Fair in July, any woman/girl  touring the exhibit who was ever a Girl Scout (or a Brownie) even for a very, very short while, as I was, received a sleeve of Girl Scout cookies.  Now that was something to celebrate.

XXX Olympics

The summer Olympics begin in less than a week and we're looking forward to it at our house. For as long as I can remember  I've loved the Olympics. Winter Olympics are great, but, to me, the summer  Olympics are even more awesome.

I remember, going way back to 1976 now, Nadia Comaneci's perfect 10 inspiring a whole generation of young girls' (me included) interest in gymnastics (dang, those uneven parallel bars are tough). I still love the gymnastics events. Track and field and swimming have our complete attention, too.  

In 1996, the Olympics took place in Atlanta. Most of the sports were practically in our own back yard. Granted, it wasn't the most illustrious of Olympic host cities, but we had the good fortune of attending several events.  My parents even made the trip to attend a few.  

Our ticket to a women's basketball event

We found a spot on Peachtree Street and watched the Olympic torch pass.

We attended the men's marathon (no ticket required)

At the marathon, someone allowed us to hold their Olympic torch.  I was 4 months pregnant and had a bad case of poison ivy (on my face!)

Some neighbor friends of our hosted a party for one of the visiting men's gymnastics teams (Romania?).  They were nice guys but spoke very little English.  One of the team members won the gold medal in the rings event that year - what a thrill it was to watch him win after meeting him in our friends' kitchen just 10 days earlier.   

For the last week of the games, we rented our house to a family from Ohio (a connection we made through Robbie's job).  It was a ton of work getting the house ready but I'd do it again given the opportunity.  

London seems like a great location for the Olympics. Let the games begin!  

Texas

Since moving to Texas almost a year ago, I've learned just token amounts of information about what makes this state so proud. Today's holiday is one of those things.  

According to Wikipedia, "Juneteenth commemorates the news on June 19, 1865, that slaves in Texas were free. The general order, read on the steps of Ashton Villa at 2328 Broadway in Galveston, came almost three years after Abraham Lincoln issued the Emancipation Proclamation on Sept. 22, 1862." 

You're A Grand Ol' Flag

Did you know that Flag Day has been around since 1916 when President Woodrow Wilson issued a proclamation officially establishing June 14th as a celebration? In August 1949, an Act of Congress established National Flag Day. 

I love the American flag. Just looking at it evokes all kinds of sentimental thoughts and feelings for me. I even had a Flag Day bridal shower.  You can read about that here.  Since then, my flag devotion hasn't waned.  I even used it as a central theme for decorating my son's bedroom.  He's a military and history buff so it's perfect.  

This iconic image of the Battle of Iwo Jima hangs over his dresser.  When photographer Joe Rosenthal died in 2006, I cut the article out of the newspaper and glued it to the back of the frame.  

This photo is deceiving. The framed print is about 20" x 30"

A print by Georgian Steve Penley (his work is awesome if you're not familiar with it), hangs above my son's bed.  Penley is famous for his Founding Father portraits - you sometimes see them on the Fox News Channel.

America's greatest general flanked by America's first flag with its 13 stars

Finally, I have two prints, similar to this one, by artist Betsy Nimock.  

A 48 star trompe-l'oeil print  with a lovely quote about Honesty.
"An honest man is the noblest work of God.  Honesty will bring its own reward.
The honest penny is better than the stolen dollar.
Honesty is that which compels us when we are wrong to acknowledge it.
Honesty is the best policy."
The photo in the center of the stars is from a teacher's 1920's photo album.

Have a wonderful Flag Day!

Decades Ago

Decades ago today, I graduated from high school.  Believe it or not, this is the lone photo I have of that auspicious occasion.  

A crowd shot from the bleacher's of the First Colonial High School football stadium
(Yeah, we were fancy like that).
Come to think of it, I'm not sure who even took this photo.

You'll have to use your imagination to pick me out of the crowd of 535 graduates.  I don't remember where I sat, though I, no doubt, sat next to my twin sister.  True to form, I don't remember anything about that day and, honestly, shockingly little about my entire high school experience. Don't worry; it wasn't traumatic or anything.  In fact, I remember liking high school, for the most part.  I just have a shockingly poor memory (as evidenced by the fact that I can't remember the post I wrote about my pitiful power to remember anything). It would worry me if I'd ever had a decent memory, but I haven't.  No worries, I still have the tassel from my cap, and I did attend college, so I'm pretty sure I graduated.  

June 6th

176 Years

Today is Texas Independence Day.  But since we're new to Texas, I can't speak with any authority about the origin of the holiday, here's what I was able to glean from a quick Google search:

"On this day in 1836, Texas became a republic. On March 1 delegates from the seventeen Mexican municipalities of Texas and the settlement of Pecan Point met at Washington-on-the-Brazos to consider independence from Mexico. George C. Childress presented a resolution calling for independence, and the chairman of the convention appointed Childress to head a committee of five to draft a declaration of independence. In the early morning hours of March 2, the convention voted unanimously to accept the resolution. After fifty-eight members signed the document, Texas became the Republic of Texas."

(And for Paul Harvey fan's - yes, I'm old, here's the "rest of the story"): "The Republic of Texas was annexed to the U.S. by joint resolution of the U.S. Congress nine years after the Texas Declaration of Independence was signed.  The US Congress then admitted Texas as a constituent state of the Union on December 29, 1845. 


Texas Independence Day is an official holiday in Texas. Sam Houston Day is also observed on March 2, marking the birthday of the man who led the Texans to victory over Mexican troops at the battle of San Jacinto."

Boy Scout Day

Today is the 102nd birthday of the Boy Scouts.  Boy Scout Day celebrates the birthday of Scouting in America. It was on February 8th, 1910 that William Dickson Boyce filed incorporation papers in Washington, D.C.  and created the Boy Scouts of America. Since then more than 110 million Americans have been involved in Scouting, including these two guys:

My husband (l) and his brother on staff at Philmont Scout Ranch 

Also, three of our nephews are recent Eagle Scouts.  I have so much respect for their commitment and dedication to these principles:
On my honor, I will do my best
To do my duty to God and my country and to obey the Scout Law;
To help other people at all times;
To keep myself physically strong, mentally awake and morally straight.

Never Forget

In July of 1977, my family, infrequent (understatement) travelers, took a trip up the eastern seaboard, including historic Philadelphia and then a day trip to New York City.


One of the highlights of that trip was a visit to The World Trade Center.  I have few recollections of the visit, except that, to me, the building seemed brand new (not 4 years old, as it was at the time), and, of course, super tall (having just then been surpassed as the tallest building in the world), and that my acrophobic mother would not venture close to the windows of the observation deck on the 107th floor.  

Surprisingly, I saved the brochure from that visit.  Yes, back then I was a scrapbooker (before scrapbooking was a thing) and I've kept it all these years.  

The cover of the brochure.  Inside, the admission price for adults
is listed as $1.70, for children 85 cents.  

Today is a sad day in American history.  In my 40+ years, there aren't many days that I can experientially recall as collectively sad for our nation.  I was just a month old when JFK was assassinated and a child when Martin Luther King was killed and also during Watergate, so those sort of "where were you when?" moments are, thankfully, not a huge part of my own personal history.  I do remember vividly the Challenger explosion (I was on my way to a Women in Literature class in college) and I watched the Columbia Shuttle explosion, eight years ago, on a television at the gym - so upset I had to leave.  


Ten years ago today, having sent my children off to school and preschool, I was getting ready for a dentist's appointment.  My husband called me from his office and told me to turn on the television, and the world was never the same.

“Now, we have inscribed a new memory alongside those others. It’s a memory of tragedy and shock, of loss and mourning. But not only of loss and mourning. It’s also a memory of bravery and self-sacrifice, and the love that lays down its life for a friend–even a friend whose name it never knew. “

                                                                                                  - President George W. Bush, December 11, 2001

The Wizard of Oz

Seventy-two years ago today, The Wizard of Oz premiered at Oconomowoc, Wisconsin's Strand Theatre.  Need proof?  I know I did.

A fan of children's books, I can't say I loved L. Frank Baum's original work.  I've been told it's an allegory, but I prefer contemplating it as fantasy/fairy tale/adventure.  


I do, however, love the movie (it's definitely one of my favorites).  I've seen it countless times.  True confession, regardless of the number of times I watch it, I'm still a little afraid of those flying monkeys.  

This photo, however, warms my heart.  

And I can't help but imagine that would make the Tin Man very happy.  

Happy Birthday America!

A War Hero's Birthday

We celebrated the anniversary of D-Day a few weeks back (my son's a WW II buff) at our house and while you may be familiar with that historic event, if you don't know the story of Audie Murphy, another compelling part of the history of World War II, you should.  


It's art imitating life, and life imitating art.  It is inspiring and intriguing and so totally worth knowing about. 


There are not many American heroes of his calibre, one's we can teach our children about.  

Somber expressions at Murphy's gravesite at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C.

Happy Birthday and thank you to Medal of Honor recipient and Great American Audie Murphy who, if he were alive, would be 87 years old today.    

Flag Day

 My love of holidays goes waaaay back.  

Just after  I was engaged in 1990, my office workers offered to throw me a Bridal Shower.  Working to select a date, they said, "What are you doing on June 14th?"  "Well, it's Flag Day." I responded.  Ergo (believe it or not), a shower theme was born. 

And because I know you are wondering what Stars and Stripes meets prenuptial party looks like (c'mon, aren't you just a little curious?), here are a few photos chronicling the event:

That's me in the middle, with hostess Jackie and my soon-to-be husband in his "Erkel" glasses (take note of our red-white-blue attire)

Checking out the Flag Cake

A few of the decorations

Take it from me, kitchen and lingerie showers are overrated for brides to be.  We had a grand ol' party!  

Memorial Day