Well, not intentionally. Just busy, I guess. So, I’ll bring you up to date on what’s been happening in my life.

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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.

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???

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.

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.

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!

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.

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.

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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!