Topic: This and That

For some reason I just could NOT get my blog or blog building utility to load last night. I would like to say a belated very happy anniversary to Hugh and Gretchen. Hope it was wonderful!

I've got lots I need to write about, and hope to do it later this evening. Just wanted to check in this morning though.

Jo's Here!
Topic: This and That

JoAnna arrived today. Yay! Ryan and I went to Manchester to pick her up, then we went to the Triangle Shopping Center in the city center. (I have to admit, I had to circle around a few times before finding the center and a place to park!) We were going to get something to eat at the Hard Rock Cafe there, but it didn't open for another hour and a half. Instead we got a bite at the Cafe Rouge, which is sort of ironic because there's one within walking distance from my house, but it took going to Manchester to eat at one!

After we ate, we walked around the shopping center for a while. JoAnna's Dad wanted her to pick up a Manchester United jersey, so we were on a mission for that.

After a while, we headed home. Unfortunately I am navigationally challenged, so it took a little while longer to get home than it could have. Fortunately, JoAnna enjoyed the "scenic route."

After Ryan went to bed, JoAnna and I sat outside and enjoyed some coffee and dessert. It was very nice and relaxing.

Tomorrow is going to be a big day for Ryan. The baby sitting co-op is going to Flamingo Land, which is a zoo/amusement park. Should be fun!

Birthday
Topic: This and That
Happy birthday Olivia! Lots of hugs and love from Ryan, Holly, and Larry! Hope you have a wonderful birthday!

The Most Amazing Picture of Ryan!
Topic: This and That
As a thank you for helping with the Army Ball, Sarah did a photo shoot of Ryan at Fountains Abbey yesterday. She got some great shots of Ryan (which was not easy, since he ran around the whole time!). This is my favorite!
I will try to put an album up, but I'm not sure when.
The last few days have been busy, getting ready for JoAnna's visit. She'll be here tomorrow. Yay!
The weather here has been great. It's been sunny and warm, but with a nice cool breeze. I love it!

Shower and Coffee
Topic: This and That
This has been a very good stretch. :) Yesterday was my friend Michelle's baby shower. It was a really nice one, and I had a very good time. I had to bring Ryan, but he behaved himself pretty well.
Tonight was the spouse's coffee. That was really nice too, and I had a very enjoyable time. It took place at a pub/restaurant near Burn Bridge called the Black Swan.
I ordered Yorkshire pudding with sausage. I've never had Yorkshire pudding and I figured since I live in Yorkshire, I had to try the pudding at least once! Basically the "pudding" isn't pudding at all the way Americans think of it. It's more like a somewhat chewy pastry base, or shallow pastry bowl that meat and gravy go into.
After dinner we played some fun pencil and paper games that I'd never played before. One was in the form of a poem that when read instructed everyone on what they got points for, or lost points for (such as wearing specific colors of clothing, etc.). Another game was "Have you ever..." with things like locking your keys in your car, locking yourself out of your house, or getting in your car and forgetting where you were going to go. The person with the fewest points won! There was another game called "Pass the Parcel," where a wrapped package is passed around the table, each person unwrapping a layer. There were pieces of Dove chocolate in between each layer, so everyone got a piece of chocolate. Yum! The person who unwraps the last layer gets to keep whatever it was that was wrapped.
I have to say that one of the times I am at my happiest is when I am socializing. We've got a great group of people here and I feel blessed to be a part of it.

Decent Day
Topic: This and That
(This was taken in June. My Mom got Ryan a modular "Play Hut." Ryan loves it!)
The last couple of days have been pretty good. It always takes me a couple of days to adjust when Larry leaves. Now I feel like Ryan and I are starting to get back on an even keel.
It helps so much that I know people here now. It feel so good to me that I can run into people I know while walking down my street, or running errands at MHS. It also feels good to have friends to socialize with.
Last night I watched my friend Susan's daughter, Hannah. That was fun! She's five months old and a sweetie. I can't believe how long ago it seems that Ryan was that little. Time seriously flies, especially with kiddos.
Susan and I got together this morning and went to IKEA. That was fun. She needed to return something and I needed sheets for our new bed (well, and pillows, and a duvet, and a duvet cover, and pillow cases...). Susan was a big help, helping me figure out what the heck I needed to get! Sometimes I go into brain failure in IKEA. There's just so much to choose from.
Susan very kindly treated us to lunch afterwards at an Italian place. That was really nice. I hadn't "done lunch" in quite a while.
I am really proud of myself: this afternoon I had a conversation in German, and I think I said everything right and I understood everything that was said to me. YAY!!! :D I am very pleased, considering that I haven't spoken German in over a year. (I was trying to call a friend of mine from the States who is visiting German family right now.)
Tomorrow I'm going to a baby shower, and Monday night there's a spouse's coffee that I'll be attending. I'm very much looking forward to both.
Hope everyone is having a good weekend!

Topic: This and That
"Tippecanoe and Ryan, Too." (Ok, I realize that canoes have nothing to do with it, but I thought it sounded cool!) Ryan was sitting in this box (couldn't get a picture of him actually sitting though), and Larry and I thought it looked like Ryan was in a canoe.
Today is the one year anniversary of the London bombings. It was all over the news, and church bells seemed to be ringing all day. I went shopping with my friend Aimee and we stumbled into a moment of silence that was being held at a local shopping center. Apparently at noon all over the country there were two minutes of silence for those who lost their lives in the bombing.
On a happier note, Ryan is on a learning hot streak! On the 4th he said his first sentence, "I got you!" Larry was tickling Ryan and said, "I got you!" and Ryan repeated it. Today, Ryan drew some circles and said, "Circle." YAY!!! He's using intelligible words a lot more, which is exciting.
Yesterday he was tired and threw a fit. We were going for a walk and he wanted to go one way and I needed us to go another. I wound up carrying him all the way up our street (a gradual incline). Once home, he kept up his fit. He was pitching one of epic proportions and just would not calm down completely. I thought I was going to have to put him to bed early. I started looking around for his blankie, and asked him, "Ryan, where's your blankie?" He looked at me and said, "Upstairs." I was completely astonished because I wasn't expecting an answer, let alone a clear and correct one. I said, "Do you want to go get it?" and he took off for the stairs. As soon as he had his blankie, he was all happy again. Go figure.
I forgot to mention that when I was driving home from dropping Larry off at the airport, I saw a sign on the M62 that read, "England's Highest Motorway." I'd never driven on a motorway (the equivalent of our freeways) before. So on my first time, I was on the highest one!
In the Small Triumphs Dept., I opened a bottle of wine by myself for the first time ever last night. :P It's the little things. I just couldn't work the wine opener we had. We bought an easier to use one at IKEA, and now I am set!
In the One Of Us Should Have Said Something A Long Time Ago Dept., a week or so ago I suggested heating up a frozen pizza for dinner. Larry told me he didn't really like that pizza - this was after months, possibly years, of getting this pizza. I told him I didn't like it either, but I got it because I thought he liked it. He said, "Nope!" We both laughed. Oh well. At least now I know!

Birthdays
Topic: This and That
Happy birthday to Jenn and Gillie! Great big hugs to you both, and I hope all your birthday wishes come true!
Much love,
~Holly

Larry
Topic: This and That
Today's been sort of a long day. Ryan was up around 3:30am. I have no idea why. He wasn't crying or upset, but was "talking" and making noise. I tried to get back to sleep (while wondering if I ought to go check on him). At 4:30am Larry's work called. We we're going to get up around 5am anyway, so at that point we went ahead and got up.
This morning Larry left from Manchester for his TDY in Maryland. He's at the Global Language Center in Linthicum (near BWI). He'll be there until the middle of August. (He got in just fine and has called me.)
Traffic getting home from the airport was rough. I felt wired and tired when Ryan and I got home. We got a nap later, but I'm still tired right now. I'm going to try to get into bed soon.
It's always a bit lonely when Larry first leaves. Luckily, I've got a busy next few days, so it won't seem so bad.
Hope everyone had a great 4th!

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!