Monday, May 28, 2012

Memorial Day


...


IT IS THE SOLDIER


It is the Soldier, not the minister
Who has given us freedom of religion.

It is the Soldier, not the reporter
Who has given us freedom of the press.

It is the Soldier, not the poet
Who has given us freedom of speech.

It is the Soldier, not the campus organizer
Who has given us freedom to protest.

It is the Soldier, not the lawyer
Who has given us the right to a fair trial.

It is the Soldier, not the politician
Who has given us the right to vote.

It is the Soldier who salutes the flag,
Who serves beneath the flag,

And whose coffin is draped by the flag,
Who allows the protester to burn the flag.

©Copyright 1970, 2005 by Charles M. Province





It is with a grateful heart that I thank all those who have served. As a daughter of an immigrant family, I know my family's struggles for freedom and a better life were not in vain because of the sacrifice of many. Those servicemen and women gave up their tomorrows so we could have our todays.

Thank you.

Sunday, May 27, 2012

We had to say "Goodbye"

Wasps have been circling around our milkweed for a few days and our girl was very worried about the baby caterpillars.  We know that they are a favorite food for these insectivores.  We also knew we were leaving for the beach in a few days and there was no way we would be able to care for the babies while gone.

There is no such thing as a "Caterpillar Sitting Service".

Cats and dogs, yes. But baby Monarchs?

No.

So we decided that nature would have to run its course with these little ones and we hoped and prayed all would turn out well.

Yesterday afternoon the caterpillars went missing. This morning we double checked the plants and sure enough we found evidence of their capture. The girl and I looked at each other with a sadness but acceptance.

We had to say goodbye.




Friday, May 25, 2012

Flat Stanley's Letter


Dear Matthew,

In April you sent me to California to meet up with your cousin Rachel.  I couldn’t tell you when you put me in the mail, but I had a mission that was SO secret I didn’t have permission to let you know who was picking me up at the Post Office.  I received a lot of training when I arrived – SUPER secret agent training!

At first I was put in a scanner to learn how to travel through email.  It was AMAZING!


Then I received special training to discover fun places and to make sure people knew how to enjoy themselves.  Probably the most important training I received was how to wear a disguise.  I needed to keep myself secret sometimes. It was part of the job!

After a long three weeks of exercise, eating good food, studying, and tests, I was ready to meet up with Rachel before she scanned and sent me to my next location.

We went to the beach…and it looked like a great place for fun.




We checked out the signs and made sure people could find the fun.





We visited a Fire Department to make sure they were ready for any emergencies.





Next we went to a Farmer’s Market to taste some good food.  I loved the blue skies, the warm weather, the people and the tall Palm trees!




YUMMY! My training told me these were good and my belly agreed!



    
It was a good trip to California and then I was off to North Carolina to see their beach! I was placed in an email and off I went!  The only difference when I first arrived was that Carolina Beach was getting ready for the tourists to arrive for Memorial Day weekend.  I was told I had to keep secret because the Mayor said the people would get too excited if they knew a secret agent was taking pictures. 


I understood. 


So I put on my Captain America disguise…




…and saw lots of fun places!


YAY!




My training didn’t prepare me for how delicious these donuts would be. It was really difficult to wait in line but they were so good!




Once I checked that all the signs and life guard stands were ready for all the people coming to the beach for fun, my job was done.


Can you see my shadow? Shhhhhh…..






Once I arrived in the Washington, DC area I went to a National’s baseball game!





The GEICO Gecko was also at the game. I went to shake his hand and he tried to eat me. That’s when I realized this was not the GEICO Gecko I see on TV.  I used my special training to plan my escape.  It was risky but I got away!





It’s a good thing I was able to get out of that gecko’s mouth unharmed because I still had quite a bit of fun checking to do!  The very next day I arrived here:



…to go sailing!




You’ll be happy to know that YES it was so much FUN!





All this checking for fun around water reminded me I should also probably check swimmers were getting ready. I went to a swim class and was happy to see they had done a great job! We even took a picture together.





That night, I remembered my training taught me how important a good night’s rest is to keep doing all sorts of fun things. So I went to bed and got some good sleep. The next day I met up with a friend I that I made while training in California.


We went to a Hockey game! I was taking pictures and making sure everyone was having a good time. I know I was and so was my friend!





After celebrating a win at the Hockey game, I knew I wanted to visit with a friend who was also happy about something she had just finished winning. Since I wanted to do something nice with her, I got a dog walking job for a day to earn a little extra money.

Since the dog I had to walk loved carrying something in her mouth, I hid in a newspaper bag and talked to her the whole way. She was very gentle.




 With the money I made, I went to Starbuck’s to meet up with my friend.







She had been very sick but she just came back from the doctor and was so happy that she was healthy again.  We were celebrating the good news and she let me try on one of her wigs.



She said I could keep it to add to my collection of super secret agent disguises since she wouldn’t need it anymore.  I thought it was too big but I said thank you and gave her a big hug because I was so happy!




That is the end of my trip visiting fun places and fun people by myself. While you were at school, I went into your strawberry patch to pick some berries and am keeping an eye on the milkweed plants for more Monarch caterpillars.







The wasps are proving to be a little scary but I’m ok.  I have my secret agent friends with me. Did you know when you get into a scanner, you can multiply yourself? 




Thank you for sending me to California. It was a great adventure in learning about scanners, emails, text messages, and time travel.  I had a lot of fun making sure people had things to do in so many different places on the West Coast and East Coast but I can’t wait to spend the rest of my time with you.  You are a pretty awesome scooter rider and really good friend!





Sincerely,
Flat Stanley


....






Blessings for your day, 

Thursday, May 24, 2012

Mission Impossible!

Ok, not so impossible but it has taken the help of some moms to find FLAT STANLEY! Not to mention scans, faxes, a newspaper, a dog, text messages, emails, wig, and other under cover "Stanleys"

Dun, dun, dun!

He was kidnapped in the mail, or so we thought.  We have since discovered that Flat Stanley has been on a secret mission and this mom's stress was an unfortunate civilian casualty.

Dun, dun, dun!



Here he is via a scan to a computer and thanks to a world of technology with some pretty savvy friends of mine, we are finishing up this project in just under four days. I will be posting the finished story here tomorrow. I hope it's as fun as it is in my head!

Now this mom needs to sign off to get this project DONE, DONE, DONE!

Welcome to the modern age Flat Stanley!

Wednesday, May 23, 2012

Hold on to Truth


Just when I feel like letting go...

(photo courtesy - People of the Second Chance)


...He holds me a little tighter.