Happy 4th of July!

Ooooh - new stuff with the blogs, now I can *see* the picture before posting the blog.  Love it!
Hope everyone has a happy and safe 4th.  A great quote I found - You have to love a nation that celebrates its independence every July 4, not with a parade of guns, tanks, and soldiers who file by the White House in a show of strength and muscle, but with family picnics where kids throw Frisbees, the potato salad gets iffy, and the flies die from happiness. You may think you have overeaten, but it is patriotism. ~Erma Bombeck

On tap for today?  Sangria - the white one.  Only I couldn't find frozen peaches so I threw in frozen mangos and a couple of fresh peaches cut up.  And 2 bottles of wine.  The container had extra room, what can I say?  LOL  Will get back on how it tastes.   A cookout with some friends.  Maybe some baseball.  More baseball.  We are hosting a local minor-league team's player.  He's awesome - and the boy is loving having a "big brother" around for the summer.   I think tomorrow I will have a cookout.  Invite some friends.  Drink more Sangria.  Ahhhhhhhhhhh, summer.  Gotta love it!

K

2008

2008 for me was much more low-key than 2007, that's for sure! I found a lot of great things in 2008 - a job that I really like, a brand new neighborhood that I wanted to be in before any ground was broken - and moved into in October, and pieces of myself that I thought I had lost. I passed the one-year anniversary of my aunt dying, and made it through. I still miss her every day, but am thankful for the family that I have left that have filled the giant void that was left with her passing. In that same respect, it was 10 years last month since my mother died. Wow.

And speaking of 10 years - was it only 10 years ago that we were going to party like it's 1999?

I found some new, great friends (and kept a lot of old great ones, too!), and realized that some that I thought were friends really weren't, but that's OK - I recognize it for what it is, and don't let it bother me. I found my way back to school after taking a semester off, and still love it! In general, life is good. :)

I found that I still kind of enjoy "poking the beast" with the "Barb" in my life. That whole situation is worth a giggle or twelve, and I'm finding that "forgive and forget" isn't in the cards for her just yet.

But all that aside, I found that blogging is fun! It's a great way to keep in touch with friends and family, and I have found some new great blogger buddies!

Here's to a healthy, happy 2009 for everyone! Happy New Year!!

Last year... this year...

Last year, we were here:


In about a half-hour, we're leaving to go here:




It's not the Cape, it's not salt water, but it IS the beach. :) And it's where Kim took me before I moved here to see if it would be a good enough substitute for the ocean. It's ok, but it doesn't smell the same, and you don't float as well. LOL