Happy Birthday, America!

I love the 4th of July. I get all patriotic inside. You know I can't sing...but when I hear Lee Greenwood, I'll belt it with the rest of 'em "cause there aint no doubt I love this laaaaaand! God Bless the USA!" I have a new found respect for soldiers too. Which makes me love this holiday even more. And my job at Ft. Benning working for the Army has opened my eyes to what they actually do for us, how hard they work, and how often they go unthanked. My dad was in the National Guard, a Major at that, but I was younger and didnt understand fully what he did for us. I have soldiers (around the office we call them "greensuiters") in and out of my office every day. Heck, I gotta yield for herds (well, I think they're officially called formations, platoons, etc) of soldiers crossing the street in front of me on Ft. Benning every day! I see Bradleys and Blackhawks and soldiers parachuting right above my building, and yes, I hear firing from nearby ranges. And I've never felt so safe. I know they're putting they're lives at risk, even just training at Ft. Benning daily, preparing to go to the Middle East, or a Southern border, or a flooded region close to home, for me. And my family. And yours. How humbling. But they'll tell you, "Just doing my job." Well, if my job is to make sure their barracks (where they sleep) or latrines (bathrooms) or training facilities are built to the best of my ability by God I'm gonna do it. Funy thing is, if I was building this same cafeteria (mess hall here) outside Ft. Benning for a private party, we'd be concerned with making sure the customer was happy with the perfect paint color, and the design in the floor tiles, and the brushed nickel door hardware. Here, our customer, our soldiers, are concerned with one thing--is it big enough? Can they get 300 soldiers in for "chow" at the same time because schedules are time and time is valuable and we must eat and hit the ranges to train some more. No fancy-smancy here. It's about Army values, and training. Anyway, I digress. No, I'm no joining the Army. But like I said I get all proud to be an American. I love my job, I'm proud of who I work for. I love that they get to wear the flag every day on their shoulder. That's a bad-a** for you. Remind me to should you what awesome opportunities I've had here, just for working with these amazing people (like skydiving with an Army Ranger!!) A.n.y.w.a.y.....so the fourth...was relaxxxxing. It was home to Mama and PaPa Bear's, where we played HGTV and redecorated a little. well, not Dad. He could care less...about everything but the budget. He was on the hunt for a Jeep. He thinks he needs a new toy. So Mom and I think we need new duvets, curtains, shams, occasional chairs, door hardware, bathroom countertops, tile.....you get the picture. It's fun decorating with someone else's plastic--ha! And it is looking beautiful too! Which leads me to this....I would love to show you my newly fluffed pillows at mom and dad's...... And I would love to show you us playing with Ethel, Dad's lab, in the yard this weekend..... Or maybe our late afternoon boat ride to see the fireworks..... Oh, I know, how about dinner on the patriotic plates Mama picked up special for the 4th..... Or how we all walked out ready for church on Sunday all in UNPLANNED coordinating black and white outfits. Too cute.... But wait, I cant. It probably would have helped it I actually remembered to put the memory card in my camera as I was packing for the weekend. Tsk tsk tsk.

Just the same.

Happy Birthday America. Gotta love us--the land of the free, and definitely the home of the brave.