Independence Day
Topic: Holidays
"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." (Excerpt from The Declaration of Independence, courtesy of www.thedeclarationofindependence.org.)

Last year was the first time since the year 2000 that I'd been in the U.S. on the 4th of July. (The above photo of Ryan was taken at my friends' parents' 4th of July BBQ last year. What a difference a year makes!) This year finds us in the very place we declared independence from! (It's not the first time, though. In 2004, I was in London on the 4th, with my friends Heather and Sabrina. The Hard Rock Cafe there was giving free bottles of Sam Adams to American passport holders!) It was kind of funny the other day, John the Builder (the man who does a lot of the maintenance on our house) called me to let me know the plumber would be here on July 24th. He said the plumber could be here on the 4th but, "I imagine you're going to be busy!" We both had a laugh at that! All water under the bridge now, I suppose!
When we lived on post in Germany, the post always had a really good Independence Day celebration. There was of course the BBQ and games, etc., during the day. At night there would be a lot of pomp and circumstance, with the 1st ID Band (Leighton Barracks was 1st ID HQ, after all), and lots of firing of cannons, followed by a really good fireworks show. Very impressive. (Most of the time it wouldn't take place on the actual 4th, since it rarely fell on a weekend and most of the time people used the four day weekend to travel.) Menwith Hill Station had a small carnival and games, etc., along with fireworks, but as far as I know, nothing on the scale Leighton did.
In some ways, when you are an American military family living overseas, every day is an independence day. Living in a foreign country (even an English speaking one) and having a family member who is in the military (and a war veteran) makes you conscious of being an American in a way that you just normally wouldn't be back in the U.S.
Today we aren't outwardly doing much to celebrate - a simple BBQ - but the meaning of this day is clearly in our hearts and thoughts, and being American is something to be grateful for and celebrate every single day.
Today I've been thinking about how I've celebrated the 4th throughout my life. I loved the celebrations we had when I was a kid. We'd spend all day swimming at my grandma Audrey's house, then at night the party would move to my parents' house. There would be food and homemade ice cream and music and more swimming. The best was the fireworks we'd set off in the driveway and the street. We'd buy tons of fireworks from local stands, and it would take at least a couple of hours to go through them all. Afterwards, the adults would carry on and the kids would fall asleep on blankets on the living room floor watching a movie. I loved having a house filled with people and merriment.
No matter where you are or what you're doing today, be sure to give a thought to the meaning behind the holiday, and be sure to celebrate!

Bolton Abbey
Topic: Day Trips
"The Bolton Abbey Estate covers 30,000 acres of beautiful countryside in the Yorkshire Dales.There are medieval buildings to explore and 80 miles of moorland, woodland and riverside footpaths." (From the Bolton Abbey website.) Here is the album from our trip on Sunday. Bolton Abbey We had a really nice time. It's the sort of place you could come back to again and again, since there's so much to explore. It's also a nice place to just have a picnic. Lots of people were picnicing between cars in the grass parking lot!
(ps - I seem to be getting e-mail alerts from comments made on my photo albums, but still not on comments made on this blog.)

Yesterday Afternoon and Today
(I took this a couple of days ago. Ryan started yawning right when I took it. I thought it was a funny picture!)
Yesterday in the morning Larry went to IKEA and bought a bed. Unfortunately, he needed two of something and only had one, so we needed to go back later.
In the afternoon I went over to my friend Sarah's house for an Independence Day weekend BBQ. It was a very relaxing, enjoyable time with friends. There were lots of fun things in the back yard for Ryan to play with, so he ran around and played the whole time.
In the evening, Larry and Ryan and I went to the shopping center near Leeds, but IKEA was closed. We missed it by fifteen minutes. :( We stopped by Borders and picked up some Starbucks though.
Today we went to Bolton Abbey. (I will post a photo album at some point soon, but in the meantime here's the website: Bolton Abbey ) It was really neat. There's a church, ruins, and it's also a bit of a recreational area. There were lots of people there enjoying the warm weather.
When we got back, Ryan took a mondo nap. Larry and I did, too! When we all got up, we barbecued.
All through the evening, a slow moving thunderstorm has been passing through. That's been fun.
Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Catching Up
Topic: This and That
The weather is gorgeous here today. I had a very nice morning, taking Ryan out with me (in the jogging stroller) for a run. I wound up talking to a couple of fellow runners along the way. In general, runners are such nice people. I would like to join the local running club at some point.
Last Sunday, Larry and Ryan and I went to the shopping center near Leeds. There were several things we wanted to get. We went to Toys'r'us to find Ryan a new red train. (The one he had broke.) Ryan always has such a good time zooming around that store. We also wound up getting him a big bouncy ball, and a yellow truck. When it comes to toys, Ryan's Daddy is definitely the indulgent one!
From there, we went to WHSmith, and Borders. I had my own mission in those two places: to get the paperback, adult editions of the last two Harry Potter books. (I only had copies of those in hard cover, and they aren't even mine!) I think the adult editions only come from the UK publisher. I know you can get them online at Amazon, but it's more fun (and probably less expensive) just to get them locally - especially when they're on sale! (Which they were.) Of course we picked up drinks from the Starbucks at Borders.
While at WHSmith, Larry and I had some fun looking up a couple of words in the dictionary: git, and prat. I had come across them in the Harry Potter books, and from context figured they were fairly tame insults. Larry's curiosity was piqued when he heard them used in the tv show, "Blackadder." (A very funny British comedy from the 80's, starring Rowan Atkinson. Season 2 is my personal favorite so far.) I was surprised those words were in the dictionary (British), since they are slang. Larry wasn't though. So now we know that "prat" is basically a babbling idiot (as in, prattling on), and "git" is similar to bastard, or jerk. Ya learn something new every day! :D
Our final stop was IKEA. We were bed shopping. We'd been needing one for guests for a while, and with my friend JoAnna coming to visit soon (Hi Jo!), we thought now was a good time to finally get one. We couldn't fit one in the car with the three of us though, so this morning Larry went to get it. Unfortunately, he needed two of something he only bought one of, so we might go back later tonight. Luckily, it's not too far away.
This whole week has been a blur for both me and Larry. Larry's been working long hours, and I've just been busy with Ryan and daily life. Thursday was my turn to host the babysitting co-op meeting. I thought it would be nice to have it at Valley Gardens. It turned out to be a good day for it, weather wise. Not too hot, not too cold. It was fun to let the kiddos run around while we moms got to socialize. There is a paddling pool there, but the water was really cold. I put Ryan in a swim diaper, but as soon as his feet touched the water, he let me know it was too cold for him.
Ryan particularly enjoyed the slide. (At first I hovered right close, afraid he'd fall off the steps. Later I was able to stand farther away. Ryan's perfectly capable of climbing the steps up the slide on his own, but I can't help being a bit overprotective!) Ryan also enjoyed the round about (I have no idea what we call them in the States - you know the circular platform that spins around that has bars you hang onto?). He doesn't have a concept of things belonging to other people, so sometimes he'd play with things that weren't his. Mostly people were pretty good about it. I tried intervene as best I could, but it's hard to chase a little one around a park for two hours straight! At one point, he started kicking a soccer ball. The man who had the ball said, "The next David Beckham!" :P
After a couple of hours, everyone from the co-op headed out. I headed back home via the shopping center. A new sports stored just opened, so I checked that out. I got Ryan the most adorable little English World Cup Team uniform! It was on sale, down to 7.49 pounds fro 24.99. He's wearing it today (England plays today) and it fits him perfectly. I've been trying to get a decent picture of him in it, but so far no dice.
Today we're possibly going on post. A friend is having a BBQ, and MHS is celebrating Independence Day today, since July 4 is on a Tuesday.
Agassi is playing Wimbledon right now. It's his last hurrah, so I hope he wins!
ps - For some reason, I am still not getting e-mail alerts when people post comments on my blog, so please bear with me if I don't see them right away. Thanks!

Topic: This and That
Please excuse yesterday's rant. I have taken a deep breath, and am now over my snit. (I discovered all is not lost with Tripod, so my blog will stay here, at least for now.)
I know things have been really sparse lately. I will try to rectify that. Time seems to have gotten away from me lately, and I don't ever seem to have enough of it.
Before I forget, I would like to add something I forgot to put in my recount of our trip to Edinburgh (at least I think I forgot to mention it). While Ryan and I were walking around Edinburgh waiting for Larry to finish the marathon, two people at different times asked me for directions. This begs two questions: do I look like a local? and do I look like I know where I'm going? (Both highly doubtful! *grin*) Maybe it's just that a woman with a small child seems approachable.
I do plan on writing about our day Sunday, as well as the nice time Ryan and I had at Valley Gardens today. Stay tuned, I will be back!

The Greatest Play
Topic: Featured Link
Larry's Mom sent him this, and Larry passed it on to me. It's definitely worth a watch. Very patriotic. Greatest Play Ever In Baseball

Technical Difficulties
Mood:  irritated
Topic: This and That

I am very irritated with Tripod right now. (Tripod is the host for this blog.) In their alerts section, it says they are, "undergoing maintenance and there may be some outages." I seriously hope that explains the crap that's been going on with my blog. First, it posted my previous entry twice. Then my Dad had difficulties posting a comment. Next, I went and deleted the extra copy of my previous entry. Then it mysteriously reappeared later. Tripod has also completely changed their blog building program, so now you can't do nearly as much as you used to, and what you CAN do, you have to write the html yourself. I am all about point-and-click. If I wanted to learn html, I would, oh I don't know, LEARN HTML!!!! Anyhow, to top that off, when I am logged out, my blog still has that pesky double entry and no comment from my Dad. When I am logged in, there's only one copy of the entry and my Dad's comment is there. So I have no idea why this is, or what all of you might be seeing on your computers. Ugh. If this doesn't resolve itself soon, I am going to move my blog elsewhere. What bothers me about Tripod as well, is they make it as difficult as possible to contact them. That's probably to avoid tons of people doing what I would like to do, which is tell them how much they suck. If I do move, it will probably be to Yahoo360. I have a profile there, and two of my friends have blogs there as well. I won't move my blog to MySpace, because they also want their users to write their own code. Forget that.

Please excuse the rant. I am just frustrated. I have no idea if this will post twice or what. If it does, I honestly don't know what I can do about it. Sorry!

I will write more (we had a nice Sunday) when I've calmed down and when I decide where my blog will be. I'll be sure to let everyone know one way or another. Thanks!

ps - Another irritating thing Tripod is NOT doing, is sending me alerts when I get comments on my site. It's supposed to alert me, but hasn't been. So if I miss your comment, I apologize! (Andra, I didn't see the one you left until today! Thank you very much, btw!)

Self inflicted stupidity wounds
Mood:  irritated
Topic: This and That

So I got this cute little lantern as a souvenir at Our Dynamic Earth. Tonight I thought I would finally light it. After a couple of minutes, Larry and I noticed a weird burning, chemical type smell. It was the lantern. We decided to blow it out. It just has a little tea light in it. Stupid me, I go to lift the top off to get at the candle and... an expletive later, I'm going to get burn ointment and bandaids.  Self-inflicted stupidity wounds are the worst!

Not much has been up. I feel like time's been getting away from me. It seems that the moment I get a chance to relax and write or get online (Ryan nap times and bedtimes), Ryan's awake or it's suddenly Holly bedtime. That's ok. I know before long Ryan will be in school and I'll be missing the days we got to spend all day together.

I've got a new mantra. Repeat after me: I will not get addicted to MySpace, I will NOT get addicted to MySpace, I WILL NOT get addicted to MySpace! I only signed up for it because some friends of mine post blogs there. I don't exactly have loads of free time, so I don't need another time sucker! :) However, it is awfully tempting - a comment here, upload something there... No matter what, I plan on keeping my blog here though. I am a paying tripod member (need tons of storage space for all my photos and my other site), so I plan on making the most of it.

Larry had to work today. Don't know if we'll do anything special tomorrow.

Hope everyone is having a good weekend.

Summer Solstice
Now Playing: Angels on tv (Larry's watching), Blue purring
Topic: This and That
Today is the summer solstice, the longest day of the year, the first day of summer. You wouldn't know it was summer here today. It's been cold and windy all day, with some rain now and then. We actually had to close some of our windows.
I'm always a little sad when the solstice comes. I don't like knowing we're now on the back side of the year and from now on the days will start getting shorter. I know it won't be noticeable for a couple months yet, but still...
It was neat last night. There was still a hint of light in the western sky at midnight.

The Ball, The Mall, The Spider
Now Playing: Nerina Pallot,
Topic: Trips
(Photo by Sarah Moore.) Lately I've been really tired, and it's been really annoying. Anytime Ryan would nap, I'd nap. In the evenings I'd be so tired, I couldn't string two coherent sentences together. Forget being online at all. It did not dawn on me until today that it's probably because of the allergy meds I've been taking. I always thought the green benedryl was the non-drowsy one! Oh well. So tomorrow I go in search of the non-drowsy stuff.
Friday night I was supposed to babysit for my friend Sarah, who was going to the Army Ball and was doing photography for it. A couple hours before the ball was to start, Sarah called me to ask if instead I could come to the ball and assist her. Larry watched Ryan, so I was able to go. Very cool! I'd never been to an Army ball and had always wanted to go. Luckily, I still fit into a dress I wore as a bride's maid several years ago, so I had something to wear. Unfortunately, I don't own a lick of makeup and I didn't have time to really do my hair. However, wearing the jewelry that went with the dress and a nice pair of shoes, I think I managed to look decent. (Sarah kindly took a couple photos of me and e-mailed them to me.)
The Ball was really nice. I didn't mind being there in a working capacity. I got in for free, and got to enjoy the food. Before dinner and formalities got started, Sarah took posed photos and I helped by taking people's information and payment. It was fun to see everyone dressed up. During the formal part of the evening, I kept track of the script for the night for Sarah so she could have her hands free to take pictures of everything, and know what was coming up next. Afterwards, it was back to the posed photos for a while.
The formal part of things had quite a few elements. There are some aspects of pomp and circumstance I really enjoy. I love ceremony. There was one thing in particular I found quite moving. At the front of the room was an empty table for one. It was set with a white table cloth, a plate with a lemon slice, a plate with salt, an upturned glass, a single red rose in a vase tied with a red ribbon, and a lit candle. This table setting was in honor of all those who had given their lives in defense of our freedom. Each item on the table has significance: the white table cloth represents purity of motives of those who answer the call of duty, the empty chair represents the soldier no longer with us, the lemon represents the bitter sacrifice they gave, the salt represents the tears of their loved ones who mourn them, the red rose symbolizes the soldier's life, and the vase is those who loved them, the upturned glass is because they cannot join the toast. A toast was called for those who gave their lives and could not be there. The response was silence. Taps was played after the toast. It was all I could do not to cry.
The rest of the evening was was on a much more uplifting note. There were several other toasts (my favorite being given by a Scottish dignitary: "To the Ladies!"), all given by prominent ball guests. There were guest speakers, and some musical performances. The evening was opened and closed with the color guard and a benediction from the army chaplain.
While assisting Sarah, I accidentally spoke to the mayor of Harrogate! I was trying to ascertain whose contact information I needed for a group of people Sarah was photographing. I ought to have realized the mayor wouldn't be handling something like that. He was very nice about it though!
The formal part of the evening wasn't over until almost eleven pm. At that point the floor was opened up to a DJ and dancing. After helping Sarah pack up her stuff, I decided to go home.
Saturday morning a new friend of mine, Susan, came by with her baby girl and picked me up to go to a mall in Manchester. (Susan works in Larry's building and is also part of the URG.) Larry kindly volunteered to watch Ryan all day. The mall was very nice. It was fun to be out with a girlfriend at a mall! I hadn't done that in a very long time.
Yesterday morning Larry made coffee. He went to refill the Britta, and discovered there was a black spider in it. Yuck! It must have crawled in through the spout of the pitcher. So he cleaned out the pitcher and threw out the entire pot of coffee. We now keep the Britta in the fridge!