Memorial Day Weekend

 First off, I have, or am recovering from, the flu.   In June.  What a joke.  I have brushed off getting a flu shot for 31 years, but mark my words from here on out I will be getting one.  After the first round of duking it out with this beast, I am completely exhausted.  It's like nothing I've been through before.  Imagine strep throat on crack.  Plus the worst bar fight you've ever been in (well, not that I've ever been in a bar fight, I can just imagine how sore one would be).  I haven't even had the energy to literally put one foot in front of the other.  And you know what the doc said...."Push fluids."  That's it.  And I managed to talk him into a z-pack because I cannot breathe.

BUT....prior to Tuesday morning, I did manage to have a great, jammed packed Memorial Day weekend! 

Last Saturday was spent in Juniper at Jeff's with a day of swimming with the clowns and cousins and a cookout.  If I'm keeping it real, I was a serious grouch potato that day.  I have no idea why, maybe now it was the ominous foreshadowing of the flu....or just because I'm female....but I was paving a tiny warpath with my mental bulldozer.  But there are some things that cheer me up every time.  I wish I could say it was Jeff and his terms of endearment Saturday.  But not this time.  It's was mama's cooking.  Man please.

My mood turned quick when she presented my favorite squash casserole (Hallelujah!), fried okra, ribs that Adam had been smoking all day....oh, and strawberry shortcake for dessert!  And we all thought we'd be swimming off some calories after dinner, but a few of us had other plans....

So we hung around Nana and Granddaddy's for a while, playing on their Kubota, and of course feeding Franny (that's Frank's baby, you know), and rocking under the patio, until it was time to call it a night.



On Sunday Jeff and I had a big day planned!  Toby Keith was playing on Ft. Benning, and we knew it was going to be a great concert!  I don't think we realized however, exactly what we signed up for as we hauled our chairs to the open field 4 hours before he was to come on to grab our spot in the sweltering sun....as the temps reached 100 degrees....with no wind to be found.....  WOW, it was hot, and as Jeffrey kept reminding me, "And we did this voluntarily??"  Ha!  We had plenty of time to walk around, grab drinks, it was definitely a bottled water kind of day, check out all the vendors, while listening to the two opening acts. 

Oh, let me say this...these pictures were taken with my camera phone because my real camera was hijacked at the door.  Yes, I know you're not supposed to bring cameras, but who really does that??  Apparently army installations with drug dogs really search people.  Whatever.

So anyway, I have my good days and bad days working here....lately I've been a little more leary than usual not having a National Budget and all, but one thing I will forever be grateful for is the respect I've earned for our military.  I always had it I'm sure, with my father, and grandfathers all being serviceman.  But there's a sense of displacement as a child, probably of them protecting me as well, that keep me from truly understanding it.  Now I do working here.  I know what it's like for these soldiers to be able to take a break and go to a concert, and play football with each other....all while still wearing the uniform that protects us.


That picture above, one of the opening acts Glorianna is singing this song about soldiers, and I loved when I looked over and saw those big strong guys waving their hands in the air.  I wonder how often they get to have fun like this?  I mean, they're not really allowed to go "downtown," I see them walking around the malls shopping, and most of them are from so far they have no family here to cook them squash casserole and fried okra. 

Wow.  We are a hot mess.  You should have seen me in my cowboy hat.  It was practically melted to my head.  Some moments should not be documented.  I really should've had a camera.  We were not that far from Toby.  But I am not profficient with a Droooooid.  Anyway, TK puts on one heckuva show. Seeing as how this concert was on Ft. Benning, he talked a lot about his USO tours overseas, his love of the military, and his pretty strong opinions on some things!  haha!  But if you've ever heard some of his songs, you already know what I'm talking about!  He ended with American Soldier, and Courtesy of the Red, White, & Blue which just seemed so emotional.  I remember first coming to work here, soldiers seemed so different as they walked by in their uniforms, they just seemed to stick out.  As I listened to these songs, on such a special weekend, this little "civilian" couldn't be more proud to stand amongst all those "green suiters." 

Frankly, I couldn't think of a more appropriate place to be on Memorial Day.  I had my favorite veteran beside me, who I am so very proud to call mine, and all these troops fighting for little ol' me, and you, every day....Toby Keith telling Bin Laden where to stick it...it was all pretty bad ass.  (pardon my french).  Oh, and all while eating a funnel cake and sweating my booty off.  Isn't that what America is all about?!  :)



Monday was all about recooperation.  I spent my time bouncing back and forth from the pool to the lounge chair, while my favorite cabana boy served me my cocktail of choice.  We cooked a mean dinner of tuna, salmon, scallops, zuccs, and jalapeno poppers--all on the grill....and wrapped up a near perfect weekend with smiles on our faces.

Happy Memorial Day, God Bless our Troops!

And one last thing....get your flu shots, people.