Veteran's Day

Veteran's Day is a day for reflection.  For me there are personal ties to Veteran's Day.  I am a Disabled Veteran.  My husband is a Veteran.  My Father is a Veteran.  My Uncle George rests as a Veteran aboard the USS ARIZONA at Pearl Harbor.  My sister-in-law is a Veteran.  So many of our friends near and far are Veterans.

This year once again finds our fine young men and women fighting across the sea in foreign countries.  This year at Fort Hood, Texas one solider raised weapons against his fellow soldiers and we ask, WHY?

For every Mother, Father, Daughter, Son, Brother, or Sister who has watched "THE CAR" come down the street and hoped against hope that the car wouldn't stop at their door.  For every loved one who has stood at a grave flinching at the Twenty-one Gun Salute and had the Flag folded and handed to them, "On behalf of a grateful Nation..."  we should and must pause as a Grateful Nation for the ones who lay down their lives on our behalf.  For the ones that won't be home for Thanksgiving or Christmas.  For the ones the won't see first steps.  For the ones that won't walk daughters down the aisle or toast sons who wed.  For the one's that won't hold their grandchildren.  For all the ones that won't....so that we can.
Please take a moment and remember....

London Bridge is Falling Down, Falling Down, Falling Down....

As a little girl that phrase about London Bridge was part of a favorite game.  Not sure I remember all the specifics, but the tune is as fresh in my head as it was oh so many years ago.

I recall all the hubbub when Lake Havasu City won the bid for the London Bridge.  Pretty cool I thought.  Dismantle the bridge and rebuild it stone by stone.  Good idea.  So this summer we were going to be driving right through Lake Havasu City.  Let's stop and see the London Bridge.


Some of you will be shocked to learn that Michael and I approach things differently.  Driving into LHC I was looking for a sign that would direct us to the famed bridge.  Surely something as magnificent as the London Bridge would have a sign with directions.  Well before we came to the sign we came to a rode called London Bridge Road.  Michael wants to take it and I want to wait for the sign.  For the sake of marital harmony I took the blasted road that wandered along the shore line, through the trailer parks, the industrial area and still no sign of the blasted bridge!  Now we are in the middle of town.  I am not very happy and still looking for the bridge.  Perhaps it is close to the London Bridge Resort.  Back and forth, up and down, hither and thither I drove the streets of LHC.  Finally in exasperation I shouted, "Where the Hell is the Bridge?"  My dear husband replied," you have driven across it at least 4 times!"  (Yes you are getting the sanitized version.)

So I found a parking lot just below the bridge.  Michael grabs his camera and says, "Aren't you coming?"  "NO!"  I couldn't believe that this plain old bridge with some flags on it was THE BRIDGE!  I should have known it wasn't going to be that impressive.  When I asked my sister about it and her reply was..."Well, when you think about them taking it apart stone by stone and putting it back together..."  Being the stubborn woman I am I let HIM take all the pictures as I waited thumbs drumming on the steeringwheel looking for the closest breakfast place.

I am not sure what I was expecting in the bridge, but more than what I got.  When I tell my U.K. friends about it they all laugh and say, "You thought it was the Tower Bridge."  Actually, no.  I don't know what the Tower Bridge looks like either.  But I wanted, I guess the London Bridge of my childhood fantasy.  Instead I got the real London Bridge. Recognized I might add at first glimpse by all my U.K. friends.

Enjoy Michael's photos.

?Friends, Facebook, and Aquaintances...?

In this world we use the word, Friend freely.  I remember my mother telling me that I would have enough friends to count on one hand and enough acquaintances to last a life time.

Face book asks you continually,  "Do you want to be my friend?"  My father recently  joined Facebook.  He is NOT my friend!  He is my Father.  I expect him to act as my Father, NOT my friend.  Don't get me wrong.  I want to connect to him on Facebook.  Just like I want to connect with my children, their spouses and all the other people in my life who encourage and lift me up.  BUT.. my children are not my friends!  I am their mother.  As their mother I have a responsibility to tell them when they are wrong, when they are right, and when they need to try again.

A relationship is complicated.  Parents have boundaries that say,  I have some experience and let me share with you what worked for me.  I don't want or need you to like me all the time.  I am your parent.  I will always love you, but I am not always going to like what you are doing.  (Had a hard time with that one when I was younger.)

Friends are special.  Yes,  I can count them on one hand.  Friends are the ones that nod when you admit that you messed up!  Not just messed up but really stepped in it.  They see you for what you are.  Good, bad, or indifferent.  They know you inside and out and still they stand beside you.  They tell you the truth when no one else will take that chance.

Friends are precious.  They are the weavers of our days.  They are the ones that tell us to relax, shut up, cool it, etc.
I wish FaceBook would come up with a different term.  I know who my friends are.

Girl Day at Valle Dorado

For those of you who are regular readers, you may remember that we went to Valle Dorado a couple of months ago.  Valle Dorado is a water park here in Guatemala.  Last time we went there was a Victoria Secret fashion show. Just what the guys were looking for.  Well, the worm turned and yesterday was the Mechanical Bull Competition.

I must tell you there is something about a vaquero (cowboy) in his jeans, and chaps.  It was fun to watch the vaqueros compete.  The interesting thing is that the even was sponsored by Tecate, a Mexican Beer!
Gallo, the National Brand fell down on the job on this one.

The other thing that made this trip fun was that Kathy brought four of her girlfriend's with us.  What a hoot it was to experience the park with these lovely young ladies.  We all got a little too much sun.

We all ate a little to much pizza and hot dogs. (You haven't eaten a hot dog until you eat a hot dog in Guatemala.  They put onions, ketsup, mayo,  & guacamole on them.  You can have it on a corn tortilla or for we gringos on a bun.)

All in all it was a great day.  Gracias Tecate y los vaqueros.

Okay, Now I love Ted

Gerry of SV Katinka has been posting about TED. She is in love with the site and now so am I.  Carole of SV Androsian sent me this bit and asked it I wanted one.

You betcha.  I love tech stuff.  I love gadgets.  I love the fact that I can have an idea and want to share it and can do so via my blog.

So many of the people that I know are geeks.  Remember that used to be a put-down.  Now some of us would wear that badge with honor.  That is were the money is and that is the new wave.

I wonder if I would have had this new device if I would have made better choices about who I dated and who I married. (watch the video for the reference)  Most likely not, I am pretty stubborn.

Music

I love music.   Some of my earliest memories are filled with music.  My Mom and Dad played music all the time.  They played all kinds of music so we kids where exposed to lots of great stuff.

So here I am living on sailboat in Guatemala and I have access to all the music I could want.  The only problem is money!  I could go broke buying all the music I want.  I want you to know that iTunes is doing their very best to get a large chunk of my money.  Remember that there are three of us purchasing music.  We like some of the same music, but each of us has our own favorite.

Yesterday was Michael's turn to go into a downloading frenzy.  Each new album suggested something else that he might like.  Yes, he liked them and downloaded them also.  Seventy songs later he stopped.

Three iPods and one iTouch live with us.  We are downloaded, sync'd and playing our music, listening to our books, reading e-books, watching movies and TV shows.

Who says you can't have it all?

Collectivas...Just part of the "Cultural Experiance"

If you have not been to Central America, you may be unfamiliar with "collectivas".  Well they are nine (9) passenger vans usually on their last legs.  Did I say nine passengers?  That may be what they were designed for, however, if you are going to make a profit carrying the populace between village and city, well.....more is definitely better!  The most that I have ever had was twenty-nine (29) in one van.  We were cheek to jowl, babies on laps, bags of veggies and fruit in laps and people hanging out the sliding door.
Cynthia and I have been regulars on the collectiva to Morales.  Cynthia has braces and must go for routine adjustments we find ourselves grabbing the various collectivas.  We are learning which drivers are just a little too crazy for us. We know that the weekends are just plain suicide.
I will admit that I miss read her appointment slip so last Saturday just past noon we found ourselves on our way to Morales.  Our driver started out just fine.  Then just as we hit the curves he really put the petal to the metal and we were flying around blind curves, passing in no passing zones, just the normal driving habits of your friendly colectiva driver.  So when we saw him yesterday with his helper and money collector holloring, "Morales,  Morales, Puerto Barrios"  we got in.  We needed to get there.

As we are going over the bridge that spans our beautiful river we stop and pick up a clown.  This guy is in full costume and has 7 soda cans all attached to each other in a line.  As we pull away he hands the driver a picture of himself on the bridge with the river in the background.  The driver is looking at the picture and commenting all the while we are weaving across the center line on a two lane bridge.

We are heading down the road and the clown starts to sing and accompany himself with the cans.  He holds them horizontally and there must be seeds inside as it sounds like a rain stick.  So he sings his song of going to the beach and seeing the beautiful girl in the white top and pants, who he calls to and declares his love.  She of course ignores him and he is sick at heart with love for her. ( I am telling you about this song...because it was all in Spanish and I understood 90% of it!)

After dropping off 2 people and picking up 4 more in the village of Buenas Aires I notice that the helper is making arm motions to a collectiva behind us.  The other collectiva pulls around us and then stops to drop off his passengers.  We pull around him and then all of a sudden he as pushed us into the on coming traffic lane!  We are half on the shoulder and he has us blocked in.  Yes, we are in a blind curve!  The other driver comes over and yanks open the door and grabs our driver.  There is yelling and accusations flying.  Cynthia and I are trying not to pay too much attention and are hoping that we won't be hit by on coming traffic.  Fortunately,  the other driver leaves and we continue on our way.

We will never know what it was all about.  The ride home was boring...Can't wait till next month.