Arrrgh!!!

Requiem

UNDER the wide and starry sky,
Dig the grave and let me lie.
Glad did I live and gladly die,
And I laid me down with a will.

This be the verse you grave for me:
Here he lies where he longed to be;
Home is the sailor, home from sea,
And the hunter home from the hill.

Stevenson, Robert Louis (1850–1894). A Child’s Garden of Verses and Underwoods. 1913.

As I started to type those words in the title, I realized I didn't know the rest of the poem. I took a short detour to Google, to see what I could find. I didn't know that the verses are part of a Requiem by Robert Louis Stevenson.

It's wonderful to have a new computer with so much memory that I can surf! On the old computer, there isn't enough memory for AOL and large websites to co-exist. Had I looked for this reference on Gladys (the old computer), AOL would have booted me not only out of the search engine but off line entirely. As my English and Scottish friends would say, I'm CHUFFED about the new computer!

So, this past week has been spent getting to know the new computer, and the new fax/scanner/copier/printer. I can't say I know them terribly well, but I've learned things all through the day, every day for the last week. I expect those waffles to be waiting for me tomorrow morning!

Its nice to have found my way back. I have a lot of blogs to read, to catch up with my friends in the blogging world. I hope you've all had a good week.

Dear Husband let me sleep in today. In good weather, usually I do that service for him on weekends, but somehow we swapped roles. I think it must have been about a quarter after seven when I rolled out of bed and dressed. I made the bed, unloaded the dishwasher, reloaded it, started some laundry, folded laundry and moved it to our bedroom, bleached the counters, watered the houseplants, feed the birds, had some toast and read the funnies and then ironed the curtains for the garage and hung them.

By then, Defer's eyes were beginning to roll with the need to go out for a quick visit with the grass, and I was ready to get to my gardens. There was too much to do to accomplish all of it in one morning, so I started with the gardens that edge the sidewalk to the front door.

Last year I planted several collections of lilies on either side of the sidewalk, near the front door. Several of the lilies in the bed on the north side were killed off, either by ground squirrels, raccoons, or by a heavy footed dog or cat. I planted easily a dozen lilies this morning, and 6 crocosima, and then I started the first weeding of the year. I got MOST of the beds at the front of the house done. I deadheaded the daffodils, and pulled thistles. I plan to paint the thistles with Roundup this year and be done with them, but I'll have to catch the next batch that come up. By then we will be in drier weather, and the Roundup will work more effectively.

It looks like we may have lost two tender rose plants that made it through the winter. I uncovered the roses about a month ago and they looked fine, but since then, they have faded to dead twigs. I'll wait to see if there is any new growth as we get into warmer weather, but things don't look good.

I've ordered my first hydrangea, and I plan to buy a buddlea to join the one I wintered over. We enjoy attracting butterflies and hummingbirds, so my goal is to keep planting things that will draw them in.

I worked for about three, maybe three and a half hours this morning, enjoying the heat of the sun on a chilly day. The sky was a deep blue and cloudless. We expected a storm this evening, but it may have by-passed us.

Tomorrow, if it's not raining, I'll take Mother to the nursery, and pick up the first round of plants. We'll make several visits over the next six weeks. My goal is to get everything that I buy into the ground! No waste this year! Our frost free date is May 15, so for the following thirty days, it's plant, plant, plant!

Dear Husband and I have been watching a program called "Inside the Actor's Studio." It's shown on the Bravo cable channel, and we tend to catch it on Sunday evening. Last week the host, James Lipton, interviewed Russel Crowe. I was surprised to find that I liked him better than I would have guessed. At the end of the evening they announced that they would be interviewing Hugh Jackman tonight.

I'm pooped!

I moderate a YahooGroup for herb growers, and this week the editors at YahooGroups have featured us as one of their weekly picks. We've been inundated. Before the deluge, we had 498 members. I'm not sure of the count at the moment, but we've easily added another 200 members in two days.

Last year we were overrun with spammers and we've had to put restrictions in place to protect the membership. Every member now has to be approved, and they are on moderated posting for a period, so we have to approve each post. Let me tell you, this is a group that likes to SHARE!

So, I've been doing housekeeping duties at the Group rather than blogging. But, if I was blogging, I'd just be talking about my gardens, so you might not have missed anything.

I just wanted you to know that I miss visiting your blogs, and I'll be back soon.

I can't resist. I need to bable about my gardens.

Update:

I wonder what happened here? I was sober when I posted!

I'm sure it was the best post ever written, an astounding entry of great virtuosity about life with mother, or motherhood, or something along those lines.

My apologies to those of you who missed it.

I received a Mother's Day gift today. I was lured out to the kitchen by DH to see a beautiful basket, wrapped up with shiny paper and a big gold bow. He told me it was a Mother's Day gift from Ed and Defer.

Ed and Defer are the cat and dog.

Each year, I get sweet notes from them with paw prints and a bit of doggerel (what else??). Frequently I get flowers, but this year they filled a beautiful basket with things their mother would enjoy: unusual cheeses, flat breads from Trader Joe's, English Toffee, and WINE!!! They managed to find a full-sized bottle of Frog's Leap Vinyard Zinfandel! What sweethearts!

It isn't every Mom who's furry kids treat her so well. *S*

I hope all of you who are celebrating Mother's Day this weekend are as fortunate, and that you have a great day!

A number of years ago, as my siblings and I began to age, it became apparent that they had a problem. We now have four generations of family who range from new born (April 26) to 87. THere are mothers in three of those generations, and it won't be too many years before there is likely to be a mother in the fourth generation.

At some point my sisters announced that THEY were mothers, and they were planning on staying home and let their families celebrate their Motherness.

So, time passes and their daughters grow up and have families, and somewhere along the line THEY announce they are mothers, and THEY are going to stay home and let their families celebrate their Motherness. (Sound familiar??) Where we had one generation miffed because they were being ignored, now we have two.

I'd like to have a little sympathy, but it's hard to dredge up. I'm not sure where we got the idea that because one is a mother, one can ignore the fact they they HAVE a mother. Since I am the one who has never had children of my own, I'm the one who always celebrates Mother's Day with my mother. We have a standing date now to go to the brunch at Pappadeaux's for Cajun food. My step-children spend the day with their mother, and DH, my mother and I go out to brunch.

I have no idea how other families handle this little problem. It seems to me that they could all go out to dinner. Or....they could sleep in late, gather later in the day and let the men cook a casual meal. Or, they could spread the celebration out over a couple of weekends or days. There must be some rational way to celebrate the day without leaving anyone out. Right??

If you know how, share it with us!

Happy Mother's Day, all!

This coming Saturday, my husband will again make me a boat widow. The ARR!! will be banded into the Chicago river and will motor it's way up river to sailing freedom.

This year, my niece and her husband will be making the trip with Dear Husband, and Sister #1 is also going to go! Despite the fact that he'll never get me on that damned boat again, I hope for them that the weather is exceptional so they have a good time.

DH was at Strictly Sail in Chicago this winter and found a catering company that specializes in catering for boaters. It must have caught his fancy, because he bought home a laminated menu attached to a floating key chain holder. The boat could go down, but the menu will survive!

He's actually ordered a meal for the first excursion. I'll miss the meal, but I won't miss the trip. Nothing he could do would entice me back on that damned boat!

This is the menu for the day:

Tuna Nicoise Stuffed Baguette
Antipasto Stuffed Focaccia
Beef Tenderloin, Parmesan, Arrugula on a Ciabatta Role with Balsamic Dressing
Farfalle Pasta with Olives, Roast Tomatoes, Asparagus and Black Pepper Vinagrette
Kettle Chips (seems mundane after the last four entries)
Cookies
Virgin Mary Mix (add your own Vodka)

Now, if you should sail with DH in the future, you'll be lucky to get a sandwich from the deli and a bottle of water, but the trip up the river he does with class! Sign up to the right--------->

Do you find that dozens of ideas for your blog pop into your head when you are doing something that keeps you from writing them down? I thought I had the solution to that with a hand held tape recorder. I could use it in the office, or in the car. But there are times when your hands are full, or you're in the middle of shaping hamburgers, or in the shower, when that won't work for you.

So, we're relying on my incredibly inept memory today. Let's see....

I've been focused on getting the herbies settled, and getting the gardens in shape this spring, and realized that I had forgotten to do the Spring organization INSIDE the house.

It used to be, in times before air conditioning, and when houses were huge and had staff to manage them, that curtains and rugs were changed for the hot months, and the furniture might be covered with lighter weight slip covers. They used lighter colors and lighter fabrics in an effort to cool the house down. I don't go that far, but we do change to a different set of table linens, and the curtains and throw rugs are washed.

I'd like to point out that I'm done with most of that, but what I haven't gotten to is the change of wardrobe. I store off season clothes in huge plastic bins in the basement. Last night, DH schlepped the bins upstairs for me, so one of my chores in the next couple of days is the changing of the guard.....er wardrobe.

I take my mother to an exercise class three mornings a week. I had on long jersey pants and a long sleeved T-shirt yesterday, and I thought I was going to melt! Of course, tomorrow, the high for the day is supposed to be 63, so I'll have to leave a few warm things in the closet.

And....I'm testing the air conditioning today! So, maybe I need to keep a sweater, too.

My doctor assures me that exercise is good for me. In fact, she was specific about kinds.....resistance, cardio, weight lifting. I was quick to assure her that I DO exercise. Three days a week I go to a morning class, and it's led by this wonderful, goofy, loveable incarnation of SATAN!

Lynda has spent her life in the pursuit of things physical. Specifically, she has learned almost every Asian exercise method, and what she doesn't know, her husband does.

We were skeptical at first when she came to lead our class. We didn't quite know what to expect. She kept a smile pasted on her face for the first year as we adjusted, and then we began to tease her, and she started teasing back.

She's slipped a lot of yoga into our cardio session, in the stretching and balance exercises. I've learned to pose like a tree, or something like that, and surprisingly, having to rise up to my toes is making my feet MUCH healthier!

We use lightweight poles for arm exercises, and 2 to 7 pound weights. We have two types of resistance bands: a small ring, and what looks like an elastic jump rope. We stretch almost every part of our bodies during warm up and cool down, and Lynda is likely to add two pound balls, basket balls, bean bags or anything else she can find into the mix to get us to use our muscles in a variety of ways.

She must feel that she's been successful in her efforts, because lately she's been slipping new moves into the routines. I've found a number of muscles I didn't know I had, and a few I wanted to forget about.

And through it all, she just smiles this inscrutable smile. I think that when she is wound up and can't sleep at night, she plans which muscle mass to attack the next day!

I SO wish I could make the world right.

We have a friend who is having so much trouble getting a job that he is close to being homeless.

The beheading of Nicholas Berg has shocked me to the core.

Our unstable economy refuses to settle and grow, and it's impact is horribly widespread.

A number of diseases, like tuberculosis, have returned with vigor, and are resisting our attempts to eradicate them.

And the list goes on and on.

What can I do as one person to make the world better? Keeping myself off the lists of the needy isn't enough. Beyond making contributions, and saying my prayers........what can I do?

The Arr!! disappeared down the drive a few minutes ago. I am officially a boat widow for the next five months.

Yesterday I was having a dreadful day in the office. The phone rang constantly, interrupting all I was trying to wade through, and the fax machine kept spewing paper at me. My sister called to say that she could get away earlier than she thought....could she come to dinner after all?

In the midst of all this, I get another call, and it's Dear Husband, who is outside, working on the boat. He was having the kind of crisis that would leave me wringing my hands and fretting in a major way, but he calmly asked if I had a moment to help him.

I haven't been on the Arr!! for two years, and I fervently hope I will never have to be on it again. The Arr!! is a Canadian built Bayfield sailboat. It seems to me that it is about 32 feet long, and roughly 21 years old. It is my husband's pride and joy, and each year I become a boat widow for the weekends between May 15 and October 15.

Chicago has a limited boating season. Only the really hardy, or the truly addicted, sail earlier or later than those dates, but it can be done. Lake Michigan can be exceedingly choppy in early spring and late fall. Because the winds are stronger then, you can get more speed out of your boat, but you also have to have a cast iron stomach to deal with the chop.

We had quite a rain yesterday, and the Arr!! has now disappeared down my drive. I plan to weed and plant, weed and plant.

I have five Homestead purple verbena, five pots of ornamental grass, three butterfly bushes, five dahlias and five Joe Pye Weed to plant.

It's time to do the container gardens, and I have WEEDS to pull. There's quite a stand of Snow on the Mountain to be ripped out, and I need to kill off the soapwort that has invaded the center of my garden.

Lots to do! I hope you all have a GREAT weekend!

When was the last time someone gave you the favor of time? It's a rare gift these days, and all the more precious because so few of us have time to spare.

Today, my oldest sister gave me the favor of an entire day. Yesterday, she helped Dear Husband put the boat in the water. It was her first trip on the Arr!! and it was a major success! She enjoyed the trip up the river, the experience of going through a lock, and motoring to the mooring. She ate the wonderful catered meal, and was so relaxed, she fell asleep on the deck!

When they came back from the lake, she called her husband and announced that she was staying overnight, and would be home late today.

You know how that saying goes......Everything I've learned, I learned from....

In this case, the sentence ends...."my sister."

We were gardening this weekend, and took a brief break. I have NO idea how we got on this subject, but she taught me that I need to be wary of "BUTT DROP."

My God, please don't tell me that one more thing is going to happen to my body, much less my butt! If my butt drops, I'm going to need a WAGON to carry it around.

As we age, why couldn't we have problems like having TOO MUCH hair on our heads.....and NO hair on our upper lips? Couldn't God have been kind and given us svelt bodies as a reward for making it to old age?

At least Sis gave me the low-down on which Land's End swimsuit to buy, and she warned me to order the long-torso version. It pains me to think what the experience of trying on the regular version might have been. (wincing)

I wonder what else I'm going to learn from my sisters?

Jamie, who got it from T, who stole this from Tara, or maybe it was Whtetigr. If you wish to play along, answer these questions in my comments section. You're welcome to swipe this from me. I'll just say you got it from one of the others. *G*

1. Who are you?
2. Are we friends? and if not: do you want to be friends?
3. When and how did we meet?
4. Have you ever seen me IRL and been too freaked out to talk to me? If you only know me online...Have you wanted to reply to write things to me and been too shy to?
5. Would you give me a positive friendster testimonial?
6. Give me a nickname and explain why you picked it.
7. Describe me in a word, phrase, film, or album?
8. What was your first impression?
9. Do you still think that way about me now?
10. What reminds you of me?
11. If you could give me anything what would it be?
12. How well do you know me?
13. When's the last time you saw me?
14. Ever wanted to tell me something but couldn't?
15. Are you going to put this on your LiveJournal / journal and see what I say about you?

My Iris are just astounding this year. A friend told me that if I put some alfalfa around them in the fall, they would bloom heavier this Spring, and she was right!
I bought a bag of alfalfa pellets and scattered them around the corms. I was probably a bit heavy-handed, but the plants seem to have done well. It doesn't seem to matter which form of alfalfa you use, but the pellets were the tidiest for our gardens.

I plan to take pictures of the gardens with my trusty disposable camera this week. When the pictures have been developed, I'll post a few here. At least you'll be able to see the big picture.

I have one deep purple iris that has done poorly for the past three years. Last year I had one bloom stalk on the plant and the dog snapped it off when he tumbled into the plant. This year, I think there may be six bloom stalks, and I can't wait to have them open! Some of my newer iris are blooming this year, too. Usually I have good luck with blooms the first full season, but I moved these, and then they were heaved out of the ground with the freeze and thaw.

It looks like garnet, or burgundy is my favorite color for iris, but we have yellow, bronze, purple, and blue varieties getting ready to open. One of the most beautiful pale varieties is a delicate ruffled peach called "Infinite Grace."

I was going to dig up and dispose of a pale lavender iris this year, but I may save a few pieces of it and plant it where it will contrast those stronger colors.

Yup, I'm iris happy. Come visit me this time of year, when my gardens are at their best!

This has been an incredible week! We've tried to pack more into it than would fit, but the high point of the week came on Thursday, about mid day.

We had a call Wednesday evening, and Dear Husband's only daughter and youngest child thought maybe she was in labor. About eleven at night, her husband called to tell us that she had been admitted to the hospital, and was being given an epidural.

We slept through the night, ready to leap out of bed when the phone rang, but no call came. (I was optimistic. After all, this IS her first baby.) By noon I was beginning to worry, when we received a call. They were going to do a C-section. More waiting.

Early in the afternoon we heard...Mother and baby are doing well....and so was the father! No name yet. The men of the family have been calling her "Baby IT," a play on one possible name. Luckily, her mother has the family sense of humor!

This is our second grandchild. Our grandson just turned 18, and will be graduating from high school this weekend. We're blessed with wonderful kids!

My mother and I go to a Park District exercise class together. It meets three days a week at 8:30, and runs for 45 minutes. I was excused from class on Friday because, for the third year in a row, we were hosting the class to a brunch.

Just last Friday we hosted a brunch for our exercise class. Luckily, it was a pot luck, so there wasn't an inordinate amount of preparation involved, but it took some time. I wanted everything to be perfect, and we fell far short. Mother Nature has given us so much rain, that the gardens are bursting, with flowers AND weeds. I tamed what I could, and resolved not to worry about the rest.

Today, we are in the midst of preparations for a tea for my mother's Empty Nesters group. I rose a little early to get a start on cleaning the kitchen. I fed the birds and watered the herbs that I still need to plant. I ironed the table cloth for the dining room and put it on the table and then we ran for exercise class.

After class, we grocery shopped, and once the groceries were put away, I ironed the white embroidered cloth that sits on point over the burgundy table cloth, and replaced the Waterford hurricanes and cut glass bowl. It's a relief to know that one room is ready to go.

I've had the same quilt on the wall in the great room for some time, and Friday I realized that I have another that might make a pleasant change. When DH is home this evening, I'll get his help making the swap. The new one is slightly darker, and the colors are more organized and less scrappy. It's a Friendship Star quilt, for those of you who recognize quilt patterns. The background lattice is shaded in light cream colored fabrics in one direction, and medium ecru fabrics on the other diagonal. I'll see if I can't get a picture of it, once it's up.

This afternoon, I have to use a hoe on the weeds in the herb garden, and pull up some volunteer oxeye daisies so that our guests can make it up the sidewalk. And, I need to bring in some peonies and lilacs for vases throughout the house.

Tonight, I hope to make cinnamon streusal muffins, and some cookies. And, if I'm lucky, I may get some strawberries dipped in chocolate. We'll offer several different varieties of hot tea, iced tea, coffee, and some soda pop.

It's supposed to rain tomorrow. I wonder if it will be cool enough for a small fire in the fireplace??

This is what my life is like for two days in May. Normally, I'm in the office, but we take advantage of the chance to entertain when the gardens are at their peak. I know this sounds like a bucolic version of Donna Reed's life as a '50s housewife, but believe me.....it's only for a few days! When the heat hits, I'll desert my gardens (though I'll snarl a lot about WEEDS!), and I'll return to my office life, so enjoy the gardens with me, for now.

I fell yesterday. I was at my nephew's home, for his daughter's fifth birthday. As I started to step out the back door, I turned to answer a question, and I think my dress shoes slid on the doorstep. I landed on my knees, and my horrified family all rushed to my assistance. I needed to calm them down so that I could get up....there were six or eight hands under various parts of my body! lol

I didn't hurt my knees, but every other muscle in my body is talking to me about it's part in trying to keep me from falling. I knew what I was going to feel like, so I was good, and went to exercise today! I'm sure Lynda is helping me go into old age with more grace.....er.....comfort.

Yesterday, I stopped at a McDonalds. I've found that I have favorite McDonalds, and also ones I won't ever patronize again. This was one of the latter. I don't understand how some of them can stay in business when it takes them longer to serve a cup of iced tea than it does a sit down dinner! I was really ticked. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to understand that you ask a client to pull forward until their order is ready, when you have others lined up behind them. AND, don't you think it would make sense to place an employee who is conversant with English at the drive up microphone?????

Last Sunday, I was working on the yard with my sis....remember...the gift of time? Well....in a very spastic move, I turned the wheelbarrow over on it's side, and it landed on my foot. I think I might be loosing my toe nail. Damn!

I'm going shopping for summer clothes on-line. Think there will be any left? It's not even June, and we're already starting to see end of season sales. I haven't bought a thing to wear for vacation, and they are already talking about FALL clothes. Jeeze....you have to order things a year ahead and PRAY that you don't change sizes!

Did you know that Texas is the only state to join the union by TREATY....and that they have the right to fly their state flag at the same height as the United States flag?

Gas yesterday....plain old regular gas, was TWO DOLLARS AND TEN CENTS! What the heck is going on?? Why do the refineries keep saying the cost is due to a delay in shifting over to summer blends? Do you suppose that they don't know summer comes every year at this time?? This sure feels like price gouging to me!

IN a month or so, remind me to talk to you about unions. I have a LOT to say!

What's this? See here for details.

When I was a child, there were billboards everywhere. You couldn't get into the car and make a short trip without seeing dozens of them. And, when the contract for the advertising was up, if the owner of the billboard didn't have a new client, the message would weather, and ultimately, begin to shred, and you'd see layers of previous advertisments begin to peek through.

In 1970, the Federal Goverment passed the Highway Beautification Act, in response to Ladybird Johnson's efforts to protect scenic highways. States were required to adopt stringent billboard laws on "federal aid" highways, or loose federal funding. Most states rushed to enact anti-billboard laws, but Illinois dragged its feet.

So, for the past thirty years the Illinois courts have been flooded with cases of contested signs. The district courts have disagreed, reversed themselves and been overridden by higher courts as case after case has been argued. Ultimately, with the help of federal appeals courts, it has been decided that home rule cities have the right to control billboards along federal highways.

The Illinois Highway Advertising Control Act of 1972 allows billboards along federal aid highways to 1,200 square feet in area, 30 feet in height and 60 feet in length. Signs may not be closer together than 100 feet in incorporated areas.

So now, rather than dozens of signs, cutting off our view past the roadway, we have huge towers, with signs the size of small apartments, standing sentinel along our federal highways

I don't understand just why Illinois was so unwilling to follow the lead of other states to clean up our roads. There must have been one heck of an advertising lobby, or a HUGE bribe somewhere, for them to have dragged their feet all these years. It's disgusting that the first thought in my mind is "bribe," but the actions of our officials leave little else to the imagination.

Of all the signs along the road, my favorite had to be the Burma-Shave signs. Signs in groups of six began appearing along the roadside in 1925. At their peak, there were 7,000 Burma-Shave signs marching across America. 1963 was the last year a new Burma-Shave sign went up. Here's an example of their homilies:

On the curves ahead
Remember sonny
That rabbit's foot
Didn't save
The bunny
Burma Shave

I wonder what the State of Illinois would have to say about the Burma-Shave signs?

This is part of a chain of posts linked together by word association. The previous link in the chain was here. If you want to write another link here's what to do: Find a word, phrase or theme from this post to inspire your own and go and write it. It's that simple. Try not to write something that's similar to this post. That way the subject of the posts along the chain will vary. E.g. if I write about going to the doctor's, then don't talk about the last time you were ill, instead describe how you used to play Doctors and Nurses with the girl next door. Get the idea? Your post can be in any style you want. Copy this paragraph and tack it onto the end of your post, updating the link to point here, then leave a comment here that points to your new post.

Our social obligations for the Spring have come to an end. At least....the more formal ones. Today we held a tea for the members of my mother's Empty Nesters group. Just seven people attended, but they were the most gregarious group I've ever seen! I visited with them as they came in, and answered some questions about the house and my quilts, and then begged off to go work in the office. I figured my Mother deserved to be the center of attention.

Mother had picked up some deli-made cookies at the grocery store, and I had intended to bake some muffins for her, but I ran out of time. Instead, I visited a more upscale bakery and brought home a dozen two-bite sized cup cakes, some raspberry ribbons, raspberry tarts, and strawberries. An hour before the tea, I learned how to dip strawberries in chocolate for the very first time.

The group obviously had a great time. I could hear their chatter from my office, all the way across the house. Mother offered tea, and iced tea. They declined coffee or soda pop, and when I returned to see them off, I couldn't resist a little teasing. There was not a strawberry to be seen, there was one cupcake left, and three raspberry ribbons. "What did you do? Lick the plate???"

It was a joy to be able to share our gardens with a knowledgeable group of gardeners, and the comfort of our house with good friends. In return, they gave us the gift of their time, and we are feeling very fortunate.

I was at the store today and struck up a conversation with the woman bagging my groceries. I told her that I envied the fact that she is bilingual.

DH and I both had a year of Spanish in high school in addition to two of Latin. I can remember the opening conversation in the SRA module for Spanish I, and I quoted it to my bagger, who looked confused. I explained that it was the first thing they had us memorize....a conversation between two friends. "Hola, Isobelle....."

She told me that her son, who is bilingual, had taken Spanish in school and was getting poor grades. It seems that his teacher had a Castillian accent, and her son was unwilling to adapt to it, from the dialect he had learned at home. When he finally wised up to the waste of time, it was too late, and he'd lost a year of study.

DH hopes to sail again in water deeper and bluer than that of Lake Michigan. He picked up a book that gives him phrases to use should he need help repairing a diesel engine in a port where only Spanish is spoken. It seems to me that he needs to know how to say...."It's broken. It won't go. How much to fix it?" and that should get him by, but you know that he'll memorize the names for motor parts, figuring that it will be cheaper if he does his own labor.

How do you say "carburator" in Spanish???

Today we are observing Memorial Day in the USA. We acknowledge those men and women who have served in the military to protect the freedom which we hold so dear. They chose to serve and we recognize their fear, pain, loss, courage and honor. Those who have served have guaranteed us our freedom of speech, knowing that some would speak against their efforts.

Thank you, each one of you, who have fought on my behalf.

We not only recognize those who have lost their lives in war, but also those who have served and returned. I'd like to thank my aunt, for her service in the WAVES as a Lt. Commander during World War II. And my brother, who served in the Navy during Viet Nam. And my youngest sister who retired as a Lt. Commander in the Navy, and her husband, who was a Major in the Air Force. Thank you for your service, for all you did to protect and continue our freedom.

And let me not forget the next generation, my niece and her husband and her brother, who all served in the Air Force, and my nephew, who served in the Army. We are blessed with people who were willing to serve. And we were blessed that they came back to us safely.