Hug Your Cat - Even If He Doesn’t Like It (155/365)

TIME:  11:11 PM (make a wish!)
PLACE:  DramaQueen’s room
SUBJECT:  DQ and Jack

Did you know that today was National Hug Your Cat Day?  Well it is.
That’s ok if you are not all excited about it.  I don’t think Jack is either.

Heart Light (039/366)

“A light heart lives long”

William Shakespeare quotes (English Dramatist, Playwright and Poet, 1564-1616

TIME:  11:45 PM
PLACE:  Living room
SUBJECT:  Valentine décor

I finally took down the snowflakes, put up the paper hearts, and hung this lighted heart on the front window.  That’s about the extent of my February decorating.

July 4th (185/365)

“It is the love of country that has lighted and that keeps glowing the holy fire of patriotism.”

J. Horace McFarland (American, leading proponent of the "City Beautiful Movement", 1859-1948) - statement at the conference of the USA governors held in the White House, Washington D.C., in 1908

TIME:  6:22 PM
PLACE:  Front sidewalk
SUBJECT:  Smoke bomb

This is the extent of our fireworks this year…DramaQueen went to a friend’s get together on Saturday and brought home a bag of smoke bombs.  She set them all off after supper.

Fourth Of July (185/365)

 
“My God!  How little do my countrymen know what precious blessings they are in possession of, and which no other people on earth enjoy!”

Thomas Jefferson (American, third President of the United States (1801–1809), and the principal author of the Declaration of Independence-1776, 1743–1826)

TIME:  9:24 PM
PLACE:  East St. Louis Riverfront
SUBJECT:  Fireworks over the Arch

MonkeyBoy left for Boy Scout Camp this afternoon.  He will be there a week – his first time away from home for more than one night.  I’m sure he will do O.K.  

As we have done for the past several years, we drove down to the Mississippi River to watch the fireworks over the Arch.  My sister, her husband and kids joined us this year.

Memorial Day (151/365)

 
“They fell, but o'er their glorious grave
Floats free the banner of the cause they died to save.”

Francis Marion Crawford (American writer, 1854-1909)

TIME:  7:29 PM
PLACE:  Walnut Hill Cemetery
SUBJECT:  Flags on veteran’s graves

Today is Memorial Day.  MonkeyBoy’s Boy Scout troop helped the Catholic War Veterans and Veteran’s of Foreign Wars raise flags at Walnut Hill cemetery beginning at 5am this morning.  HandsomeHusband accompanied him.  Then, HH, MB and StellaDella participated in our town’s annual Memorial Day parade at 10am; MB and SD sat in the Miata and threw candy while HH drove.  The parade ended at Walnut Hill Cemetery with a ceremony that honored the men and women of the United States forces who have died, been wounded, disabled or fortunate enough to return without physical injury.   Afterwards, we traveled to my sister’s house for a family get together and BBQ.  HH and MB left early so they could help lower the flags at the cemetery.

Van Gogh Rabbit (094/365)

“The bunny, the bunny, oh, I ate the bunny
I didn't eat my soup or my bread, just the bunny
The bunny, the bunny, oh, I ate the bunny
And now I'm feelin' sick in the head from the bunny.”

Phil Vischer, *The Bunny Song (The New & Improved).* sung by Mr. Nezzer and the Asparagus Vocalists. Rack, Shack & Benny. Veggie Tales, Big Idea Productions, 1995.

TIME:  8:43 PM
PLACE:  Kitchen
SUBJECT:  Chocolate rabbit

I held out all day.  I even took a 9-mile bike ride.  Then at 8:40pm, my willpower crumbled and I could resist no longer.  I ate the bunny’s ears.  They were good too.  Happy Easter.

Merry Christmas! (359/365)

 
“There's nothing sadder in this world than to awake Christmas morning and not be a child.”

Bombeck, Erma. I Lost Everything in the Post-Natal Depression. New York. Doubleday & Co. 1973.

TIME:  7:48 AM
PLACE:  The living room
SUBJECT:  Christmas tree
(photo taken by HH)

I hope everyone had a very Merry Christmas!  Here at the Sujomi household, we opened presents, HH made a tasty breakfast (and cleaned up!), Grandpa came by to see what Santa brought the kids and we spent the rest of the day playing with new toys and just being lazy.  A perfect Christmas day in my opinion.  Tomorrow, DQ and I are leaving the house “bright and squirrely” to meet my sister, sister-in-law and niece and hit the after Christmas sales.  DQ will be armed with her new phone in case we are separated by the masses.  She can’t wait.

Book It (344/365)

 
The greatest gift you will ever receive will never be found under a Christmas tree. It is far too valuable to be stored in any other place but in the depths of your heart.

Unknown

TIME:  9:11 PM
PLACE:  The study
SUBJECT:  Laura's Christmas Star

This year for Advent, I had DramaQueen pick and wrap 24 of the many Christmas books that we have accumulated.  She also numbered them so that "The Night Before Christmas" is the final book to be opened.  Each night, StellaDella unwraps the appropriate numbered package and we sit and read the book before bedtime.  Tonight was "Laura's Christmas Star" by Klaus Baumgart.  I think I like this way to countdown to Christmas more than any other Advent calendar we have had in the past.

Turkey Talk (330/365)

 
For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food, for love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends.

Ralph Waldo Emerson (American Poet, Lecturer and Essayist, 1803-1882)

TIME:  8:02 PM
PLACE:  The kitchen
SUBJECT:  Turkey cookies

Well, I hope that a Happy Thanksgiving was enjoyed by all those in the States today.  We will be celebrating the with the “Family” on Saturday so we just had a small quiet dinner at Sujomi household.  HH made a ham, garlic mashed potatoes and a wilted slaw (all very tasty – especially because I didn’t have to cook!) and I made pumpkin pie for dessert.  Heck, I even got out the wedding china. 

I made these cookies last night and the kids helped ice them this evening.  These will be coming with us on Saturday to Dad’s house.  A funny thing about these cookies, they are called “Sour Cream Sugar Cookies”.  My dad hates sour cream.  He even jokes that he doesn’t like anyone who likes sour cream, but these are his favorite cookies!  He prefers them un-iced and I made sure that I have a container of those just for him.  If you like a not-too-sweet cookie, then you should enjoy these.  

Sour Cream Sugar Cookies
In a medium bowl, sift together:  
3-1/4 cups of flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt

Then, in a mixer combine:
1/2 cup butter (softened)
1 cup sugar
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Beat for 2 minutes, then blend in 1/2 cup sour cream.  Change your attachment to a dough hook and slowly add the flour mixture.

Roll and cut out with cookie cutters.

Bake at 425 degrees for 10-12 minutes.
Cool on wire rack.
Ice as desired.

Independence Day (185/365)

 
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to dissolve the political bands which have connected them with another, and to assume among the powers of the earth, the separate and equal station to which the Laws of Nature and of Nature's God entitle them, a decent respect to the opinions of mankind requires that they should declare the causes which impel them to the separation.

We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.--That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, --That whenever any Form of Government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the Right of the People to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new Government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their Safety and Happiness. Prudence, indeed, will dictate that Governments long established should not be changed for light and transient causes; and accordingly all experience hath shewn, that mankind are more disposed to suffer, while evils are sufferable, than to right themselves by abolishing the forms to which they are accustomed. But when a long train of abuses and usurpations, pursuing invariably the same Object evinces a design to reduce them under absolute Despotism, it is their right, it is their duty, to throw off such Government, and to provide new Guards for their future security.--Such has been the patient sufferance of these Colonies; and such is now the necessity which constrains them to alter their former Systems of Government. The history of the present King of Great Britain is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the establishment of an absolute Tyranny over these States. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.

He has refused his Assent to Laws, the most wholesome and necessary for the public good.

He has forbidden his Governors to pass Laws of immediate and pressing importance, unless suspended in their operation till his Assent should be obtained; and when so suspended, he has utterly neglected to attend to them.

He has refused to pass other Laws for the accommodation of large districts of people, unless those people would relinquish the right of Representation in the Legislature, a right inestimable to them and formidable to tyrants only.

He has called together legislative bodies at places unusual, uncomfortable, and distant from the depository of their public Records, for the sole purpose of fatiguing them into compliance with his measures.

He has dissolved Representative Houses repeatedly, for opposing with manly firmness his invasions on the rights of the people.

He has refused for a long time, after such dissolutions, to cause others to be elected; whereby the Legislative powers, incapable of Annihilation, have returned to the People at large for their exercise; the State remaining in the mean time exposed to all the dangers of invasion from without, and convulsions within.

He has endeavoured to prevent the population of these States; for that purpose obstructing the Laws for Naturalization of Foreigners; refusing to pass others to encourage their migrations hither, and raising the conditions of new Appropriations of Lands.

He has obstructed the Administration of Justice, by refusing his Assent to Laws for establishing Judiciary powers.

He has made Judges dependent on his Will alone, for the tenure of their offices, and the amount and payment of their salaries.

He has erected a multitude of New Offices, and sent hither swarms of Officers to harrass our people, and eat out their substance.

He has kept among us, in times of peace, Standing Armies without the Consent of our legislatures.

He has affected to render the Military independent of and superior to the Civil power.

He has combined with others to subject us to a jurisdiction foreign to our constitution, and unacknowledged by our laws; giving his Assent to their Acts of pretended Legislation:

For Quartering large bodies of armed troops among us:

For protecting them, by a mock Trial, from punishment for any Murders which they should commit on the Inhabitants of these States:

For cutting off our Trade with all parts of the world:

For imposing Taxes on us without our Consent:

For depriving us in many cases, of the benefits of Trial by Jury:

For transporting us beyond Seas to be tried for pretended offences

For abolishing the free System of English Laws in a neighbouring Province, establishing therein an Arbitrary government, and enlarging its Boundaries so as to render it at once an example and fit instrument for introducing the same absolute rule into these Colonies:

For taking away our Charters, abolishing our most valuable Laws, and altering fundamentally the Forms of our Governments:

For suspending our own Legislatures, and declaring themselves invested with power to legislate for us in all cases whatsoever.

He has abdicated Government here, by declaring us out of his Protection and waging War against us.

He has plundered our seas, ravaged our Coasts, burnt our towns, and destroyed the lives of our people.

He is at this time transporting large Armies of foreign Mercenaries to compleat the works of death, desolation and tyranny, already begun with circumstances of Cruelty & perfidy scarcely paralleled in the most barbarous ages, and totally unworthy the Head of a civilized nation.

He has constrained our fellow Citizens taken Captive on the high Seas to bear Arms against their Country, to become the executioners of their friends and Brethren, or to fall themselves by their Hands.

He has excited domestic insurrections amongst us, and has endeavoured to bring on the inhabitants of our frontiers, the merciless Indian Savages, whose known rule of warfare, is an undistinguished destruction of all ages, sexes and conditions.

In every stage of these Oppressions We have Petitioned for Redress in the most humble terms: Our repeated Petitions have been answered only by repeated injury. A Prince whose character is thus marked by every act which may define a Tyrant, is unfit to be the ruler of a free people.

Nor have We been wanting in attentions to our Brittish brethren. We have warned them from time to time of attempts by their legislature to extend an unwarrantable jurisdiction over us. We have reminded them of the circumstances of our emigration and settlement here. We have appealed to their native justice and magnanimity, and we have conjured them by the ties of our common kindred to disavow these usurpations, which, would inevitably interrupt our connections and correspondence. They too have been deaf to the voice of justice and of consanguinity. We must, therefore, acquiesce in the necessity, which denounces our Separation, and hold them, as we hold the rest of mankind, Enemies in War, in Peace Friends.

We, therefore, the Representatives of the united States of America, in General Congress, Assembled, appealing to the Supreme Judge of the world for the rectitude of our intentions, do, in the Name, and by Authority of the good People of these Colonies, solemnly publish and declare, That these United Colonies are, and of Right ought to be Free and Independent States; that they are Absolved from all Allegiance to the British Crown, and that all political connection between them and the State of Great Britain, is and ought to be totally dissolved; and that as Free and Independent States, they have full Power to levy War, conclude Peace, contract Alliances, establish Commerce, and to do all other Acts and Things which Independent States may of right do. And for the support of this Declaration, with a firm reliance on the protection of divine Providence, we mutually pledge to each other our Lives, our Fortunes and our sacred Honor.

The Declaration of Independence July 4, 1776

TIME:  9:32 PM
PLACE:  Millstadt, IL
SUBJECT:  Fireworks

Happy Independence Day!  My mother-in-law's birthday is today as well.  On Monday, the 6th, my nephew turns 15 years old.  So to celebrate we went to my brother's house for dinner.  As the nephew is in the midst of his teenage years, picking out a gift was easy - cash!  The back deck of my brother's house was an excellent vantage point for the town's fireworks display.  I brought the tripod in anticipation of capturing some explosions.  I must be really sweet, as the mosquitos found me quite appetizing - I itch something fierce!

Memorial Day (145/365)

 
And they who for their country die shall fill an honored grave, for glory lights the soldier's tomb, and beauty weeps the brave.

Joseph Drake (American poet, 1795-1820)

TIME: 2:49 PM
PLACE:  Walnut Hill Cemetery
SUBJECT:  Veteran's graves

Today is Memorial Day in the United States, a day that we stop, reflect and remember those who gave their lives for us so we may continue to enjoy all the freedoms of our country.  We as Americans, reap the benefits from the men and women in the military who have made the ultimate sacrifice.  I hope that this point is the overriding theme today, and that this day is not looked upon as just another holiday and three-day weekend.

I'd like to honor the men and women in the military, past and present for their service to our country.  You have given us a great gift of yourself, thank you.