Summer Sunday Hello

Good Morning Family,
Well, Utley seems to be doing better since being on the antibiotic the doc gave us.  He still has the cough, but he took it easy yesterday.  I could tell he was sick.  He didn't want to play fetch as much as usual.

Last night, there was a sort of festival down at the park by the river here.  I went down to it for an hour and half.  There was a small boat parade.  Some families were very creative with their decorations of their boats.  Two were decorated for the Olympics, with hula hoops for the Olympic rings.  One was a real amphibious car from like the 1960s.  There were fireworks around 9:00, but I had to get home because I had been away from Utley long enough.  I didn't want him to be alone during the fireworks.

Today, I have to find some legal paperwork about some parking tickets I got here.  Then, I have to get some money out of the bank to pay them tomorrow.  I spent all the cash I had on Utley's emergency visit to the vet yesterday.  

The rest of the day, I am going to tidy and watch my Phillies.

Hope everyone has a great day.

Hugs,
Trish
 

Good mornin' ya'll.

Trish, I hope Utley starts feeling better soon. Getting his meds in him will help. Legal papers, parking tickets, money! NONE of that sounds like fun.

I have to brag about my son, the Marine. He went into our favorite Chinese restaurant to get take out. There was a woman with her 2 children in there eating. A big guy with a leather coat on came in, looking a little skeevy. All the help was in the back getting orders together. The skeevy guy looks all around and starts for the counter. He looks around again and Jim catches his eye. Jim shakes his head, no. The guy looks at the counter back at Jim, Jim shakes his head no again. The guy takes the tip jar and puts it under his coat. He turns around to leave and Jim is standing in front of the door with his arms crossed. Very calmly Jim tells him to put it back. The skeevy guy looks at Jim, at the counter, at Jim. Another round of put it back, skeevy looks around again. Looks back at Jim. Skeevy guy decides to leave with the tip jar.  Calmly and quietly Jim tells the guy, put it back or I'll knock you on your 'f..king a.s'. The guy hesitates, Jim uncrosses his arms. The guy goes and puts the tip jar back and Jim lets him leave. Jim goes over to the woman and apologizes for his language. She thanked Jim, said she was terrified the guy might have had a gun and was gonna rob them all, not just take the tip jar. The Chinese lady calls Jim's order. The woman with the kids went up and told the Chinese gal what Jim had done. She said she would pay for his meal. Jim said no thanks, gets his order and comes on home.

Nothin' going on here today.

Everyone have a fantabulous day!

Well, you have a right to be proud of your son. I'm proud of him, too. I would have bought him dinner and wouldn't have taken no for an answer. (Of course, I don't have any money now, but still ... ) 

Caroline, 
Of course you are proud of your son.  He's a terrific guy, and the skeevy guy was smart to put the jar back.  Your son could have mopped the floor with the guy.  Marines are taught hand to hand combat..

Tell him I'm proud to know his Mom.

Hugs,
Trish

Way to go Jim!!! I love hearing stories like that. Thank goodness he was there.

Debbie

Good morning Trish and Carolyn and all my OFF sistas!

Wow, Carolyn, I am so proud of your son, too!  We need more good men like him to set an example for our youth. 

Trish, I'm so glad that you got Utley to the vet and got him some meds.  It's scary when our fur babies are sick, isn't it?

Well, yesterday was quite an adventure at the Outlet Mall.  It's always crowded on the weekends, but yesterday was just a zoo!  We did manage to complete most of our shopping plans there.  It's so big that you have to park your car in an "area" where you plan to shop, and then if you need to, you move your car to another area.  We were only able to shop in our first area because by the time we were ready to move to another part, the parking lot was, well, a parking lot!  We sat in the car, not moving more than an inch or two at a time for 1 solid hour before we finally managed to exit!!!  Wowzers. 

I did buy Benny two new shirts from the Polo Kids outlet store for back-to-school.  (He starts nursery school next month.)  I have already ordered him 3 new pairs of shorts from Land's End, and I had bought some new shirts for him earlier in the summer.  He still needs some new shoes and socks, but we didn't get to that "area" yesterday!

I scored 3 new tops at the Dress Barn outlet store.  One summer top and 2 lightweight sweaters for this fall.  One with 3/4 sleeves and one with long sleeves.  It's a start.  Carrie and Chris both found some new clothes bargains at Dress Barn and Lane Bryant, too, so everyone was happy and ready to come home.

Today's adventure is swimming.  We are going to Landa Park at noon.  We'll pack a picnic and spend the day there.  I expect it will be packed.  There are just too many people in the world!  LOL!

Well, I'm waiting on my weekly phone call from Butch.  One week down, 4 more to go!  I'm getting a little tired of these extra long hitches!  

Guess I'd better go start breakfast for my kiddos and then get that picnic pulled together.  Hope you all have a blessed Sunday!

Love you all! 

 Vickie,
My sister-in-law only gets to see her husband three or four times a year.  He was home in April for a week or two.  The time before that was Christmas.  He's home now for three to four weeks.  Then, I don't think he'll be back till Christmas, where I think he gets two weeks.  They got married last July.  He's in Saudi Arabia teaching English for one of the oil companies, I think.  They grew up together, and went to the same college.  Not sure how it is that Kathy left college early to marry my brother back then.  I think they worked together when she was on summer break.  

Hang in there.

Hugs,
Trish

Good morning Trish and everyone to follow.

I have just returned from a 2 week holiday in Ireland  -  what an absolutely gorgeous country and wonderful people.
I learned much more about my culture - both parents had Irish relatives from the north and the south who had emigrated during the "famine".  I learned that there was a potato blight; however, there was no famine as crops were exported while people were starving.  There is a memorial to the "coffin ships", which was what the ships were called that carried the emigrants to N. America because so many did not make it here and died while en route.  I was able to board a ship that was constructed exactly like the original ship, the Dunbrody, that was one of the "coffin ships".  Each of us was given a boarding pass which would have looked like the original passes.  Each pass had the entire list of names of the family that was boarding.  We were all directed to steerage, which is where our families would have stayed during the 4-6 week voyage.  They were each allowed upstairs onto the top of the ship for 30 mins. per day.  Each bunk was filled with 8-10 passengers, whether you knew them or not.  Two actors acted out the parts of a passenger in steerage and a first class passenger.  What an eye opener it was for someone like me whose ancestors came on one of those ships.
We also saw the many, many Catholic churches that were burned down across the Republic of Ireland (not the north) by Cromwell's forces.  The structures were made of stone, so the skeletons are left.  And, I spent two nights in Belfast and saw the murals painted across the Catholic and Protestant parts of the city.  I had seen many of them on TV over the years and it was surreal to be there.  The wall is still up between the two areas, but people are able to pass through;however, the city is still divided into Catholic and Protestant areas.  It's such a shame that religion has played a part in dividing the whole of the country  -  in the North in the recent past and in the Republic long ago.

Besides all of the history that I learned, I saw one of the most beautiful countries in the world.  It seemed that all of the houses had window boxes spilling over with petunias and lobelia and fuchsia plants grow wild all over.  You've probably seen pictures of the row houses in Ireland  -  several houses connected with each having a different, vibrantly coloured door.  I have some pictures of those houses and doors and they are so beautiful.

Sorry for having gone on so long about my trip  -  it was more of a pilgrimage for me and was the most meaningful trip that I will ever take.

Carolyn - your son is a brave man.  I'm glad that things turned out the way they did because it could have ended much worse.
I come here and read everyday and  rarely post, but I want all of you to know that I think of you and pray that your lives are peaceful and full of love.
Margaret

Margaret, one of the things on my bucket list is to go to Ireland and Scotland. My mother's great grandfather came over from Ireland. Someplace called Bollywogs, I think. They called him Red Andy cause he had a head full of red hair. Every St. Patrick's Day my Mom and Grandma wore orange because we weren't from the part of Ireland that was green. I think we were from the North. Or maybe Mom and Grandma just wanted to be different. A definate possibility. My cousin went over there about 15 years ago and had a great time. She said everyone was so nice and so helpful with her search for our ancestors. My Dad's family came from Scotland. Not sure what part. I just know his Grandma said that's where her family came from. It's not as easy trying to track down ancestors from the female sides of a family.
I'm so glad you had a great time. I don't understand why people have to fight and be divided by religion. Doesn't every religion advocate peace! I feel the same way about skin color. What's the big deal? Like the song says, we all bleed red!!
OK, I will climb down off my soapbox.

Carolyn
I have never seen so much red hair as I did in Ireland!  It's everywhere and the people are gorgeous.
There are a lot of places in Northern Ireland that have Bally as part of the name - Bally means town.  There is a Ballywoges in Donegal, which is in the north part of the island, but it's not in N. Ireland, so that may be where your family came from.  I thought, before I went to Ireland, that Donegal was in the north, but I found differently when I was there.
The orange worn in the North is for the Protestants who wear it because of William of Orange who defeated William at the Battle of the Boyne. The flag of Ireland is oragne, white and green  -  orange for the Protestants, green for the Catholics and white for the peace between the two.
The country is steeped in history and there are "beehive" structures that were built 1000 BC! that we stopped and entered.  They must have been little Irish men at that time because we all had to bend over to enter.  There is just so much history in Ireland that it is almost overwhelming, and it made us realize how recent we really are in our 'New' country of Canada.
I forgot to mention that I visited the new Titanic museum in Belfast and took a walk in the drydock where the Titanic was built.  It was awe-inspiring to realize that that infamous ship was once in the very area where I was walking.  In the museum, there were bedrooms that were arranged just as the bedrooms in the staterooms and in steerage had been on the Titanic in 1912.  I'm sure that you would guess that there were many differences in those areas.
I hope that you get to Ireland and Scotland - I've got to get to Scotland, too, as part of my family was from Oban.  I don't think that you will regret a moment of your trip.
Margaret