We're back!!

Well we are back from our "big" family vacation. I am so exhausted and sunburned so I thought I would post the following cartoon I received in email while I was gone:

It is very strange....last Saturday, just my 4 went to Aquatica, the new waterpark at Sea World, just opened in March. And the only place I got burned was on my shoulders. Regular sun everywhere else. Was in the sun almost all day every day and then on Thursday, I got burned again, this time my legs are fried...and I do believe I have some sun poison on my lower legs. I know one thing....I am in pain! We got back about 4:30 Friday, just in time to pick up our doggies from boarding at my vet...they were so happy to see us!! And I was definitely excited about seeing my little "Belle".

Right now I am to tired to post about vacation, I promise I will, but it will be at a later date. Thanks to all of you who wished us well, prayed for travel mercies, and continued to visit the blog while I was away. We definitely felt those prayers, especially when it came to our car (more later, I promise!!) and I hope you enjoyed the eye candy I left you with.

Today, I am busy doing laundry, and will start back to painting on the house shortly. But I do want to share a few things with you.

For my fellow NC'ers....
In 2005 Jeld-Wen windows and doors began a lighthouse restoration initiative by taking nominations of towers that needed new windows and doors. The public could then vote on the lighthouse they consider being the lighthouse that would most benefit from this award. This year, out of 49 nominees, Bodie Island Lighthouse is one of the 12 finalists. If our NC tower wins, it will receive 8 windows and one door that are reproductions of the originals. You can read more about the contest below and VOTE (please, for Bodie Island Lighthouse). As you may recall, funding for the restoration of BILH was pulled from the budget just minutes before the US Senate voted in December 2007. Monies for its restoration will be requested again, but it has been passed over several years and there is no guarantee that it will be passed this year. The NPS feels that any help from other agencies and companies will be welcome to lessen the $2.8 million dollar project and may better our chances of getting funds for Bodie this year. Thomas Point Shoal Lighthouse (owned by the city of Annapolis and managed by the Chesapeake Chapter of the USLS) was awarded windows last year. Many of you have visited there, so we KNOW this can happen. Please go to the site below and cast your vote...feel free to pass it along to friends!
Sincerely, Bett Padgett, President Outer Banks Lighthouse Society
http://www.jeld-wen.com/lighthouse/

I also received the following email called the Stranger...please read it and give it some thought:

The Stranger

A few years after I was born, my Dad met a stranger who was new to our small Texas town. From the beginning, Dad was fascinated with this enchanting newcomer and soon invited him to live with our family. The stranger was quickly accepted and was around from then on.

As I grew up, I never questioned his place in my family. In my young mind, he had a special niche. My parents were complementary instructors:

Mom taught me good from evil, and Dad Taught me to obey. But the stranger...he was our storyteller. He would keep us spellbound for hours on end with adventures, mysteries and comedies.

If I wanted to know anything about politics, history or science, he always knew the answers about the past, understood the present and even seemed able to predict the future! He took my family to the first major league ball game . He made me laugh, and he made me cry. The stranger never stopped talking, but Dad didn't seem to mind.

Sometimes, Mom would get up quietly while the rest of us were shushing each other to listen to what he had to say, and she would go to the kitchen for peace and quiet. (I wonder now if she ever prayed for the stranger to leave.)

Dad ruled our household with certain moral convictions, but the stranger never felt obligated to honor them. Profanity, for example, was not allowed in our home... Not from us, our friends or any visitors. Our longtime visitor, however, got away with four-letter words that burned my ears and made my dad squirm and my mother blush.

My Dad didn't permit the liberal use of alcohol. But the stranger encouraged us to try it on A regular basis. He made cigarettes look cool, cigars manly and pipes distinguished. He talked freely ( much too freely!) about sex. His comments were sometimes blatant, sometimes suggestive, and generally embarrassing.

I now know that my early concepts about relationships were influenced strongly by the stranger. Time after time, he opposed the values of my parents, yet he was seldom rebuked... And NEVER asked to leave.

More than fifty years have passed since the stranger moved in with our family. He has blended right in and is not nearly as fascinating as he was at first. Still, if you could walk into my parents' den today, you would still find him sitting over in his corner, waiting for someone to listen to him talk and watch him draw his pictures.

His name?... We just call him, "TV."

**Note: This should be required reading for every household in America!
** He has a wife now.... We call her "Computer."

And I also received a little girlie wisdom:

Girlie Wisdom!
Women over 50 don't have babies because they would put them down and forget where they left them.

A friend of mine confused her Valium with her birth control pills... she has 14 kids but doesn't really care.

One of life's mysteries is how a 2-pound box of chocolates can make a woman gain 5 lbs.

My mind not only wanders, it sometimes leaves completely.

The best way to forget your troubles is to wear tight shoes.

The nice part about living in a small town is that when you don't know what you are doing, someone else does.

The older you get, the tougher it is to lose weight because by then, your body and your fat are really good friends.

Just when I was getting used to yesterday, along came today.

Sometimes I think I understand everything, and then I regain consciousness.

I gave up jogging for my health when my thighs kept rubbing together and setting fire to my knicker's.

Amazing! You hang something in your closet for a while and it shrinks 2 sizes!

I just love this next one!!
Skinny people irritate me! Especially when they say things like...'You know sometimes I forget to eat!' .....Now I've forgotten my address, my mother's maiden name and my keys, but I have never forgotten to eat. You have to be a special kind of stupid to forget to eat!

The trouble with some women is that they get all excited about nothing and then they marry him.

I read this article that said the typical symptoms of stress are eating too much, impulse buying, and driving too fast. Are they kidding? That's my idea of a perfect day!

And lastly, for today, some thoughts to ponder...

You could have Heard a Pin Drop

When in England at a fairly large conference, Colin Powell was asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just an example of 'empire building' by George Bush. He answered by saying, 'Over the years, the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have ever asked for in return is enough to bury those that did not return.
You could have heard a pin drop.
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Then there was a conference in France where a number of international engineers were taking part, including French and American. During a break, one of the French engineers came back into the room saying, 'Have you heard the latest dumb stunt Bush has done? He has sent an aircraft carrier to Indonesia to help the tsunami victims. What does he intended to do, bomb them?' A Boeing engineer stood up and replied quietly: 'Our carriers have three hospitals on board that can treat several hundred people; they are nuclear powered and can supply emergency electrical power to shore facilities; they have three cafeterias with the capacity to feed 3,000 people three meals a day, they can produce several thousand gallons of fresh water from sea water each day, and they carry half a dozen helicopters for use in transporting victims and injured to and from their flight deck. We have 11 such ships; how many does France have? ' You could have heard a pin drop.
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A U.S. Navy Admiral was attending a naval conference that included Admirals from the U.S., English, Canadian, Australian and French Navies. At a cocktail reception, he found himself standing with a large group of officers that included personnel from most of those countries. Everyone was chatting away in English as they sipped their drinks but a French admiral suddenly complained that, 'whereas Europeans learn many languages, Americans learn only English.' He then asked, 'Why is it that we always have to speak English in these conferences rather than speaking French?' Without hesitating, the American Admiral replied 'Maybe it's because the Brits, Canadians, Aussies and Americans arranged it so you wouldn't have to speak German.'
You could have heard a pin drop.
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AND THIS STORY FITS RIGHT IN WITH THE ABOVE...
A group of Americans, retired teachers, recently went to France on a tour. Robert Whiting, an elderly gentleman of 83, arrived in Paris by plane. At French Customs, he took a few minutes to locate his passport in his carry on. 'You have been to France before, monsieur?' the customs officer asked sarcastically. Mr. Whiting admitted that he had been to France previously. 'Then you should know enough to have your passport ready.' The American said, 'The last time I was here, I didn't have to show it.' 'Impossible. Americans always have to show your passports on arrival in France!' The American senior gave the Frenchman a long hard look. Then he quietly explained. 'Well, when I came ashore at Omaha Beach on D-Day in '44 to help liberate this country, I couldn't find any Frenchmen to show it to.'
You could have heard a pin drop
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What Is A Veteran?
A "Veteran" -- whether active duty, discharged, retired, or reserve -- is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America," for an amount of "up to, and including his life." That is honor, and there are way too many people in this country today, who no longer understand that fact.

And for now, I hope y'all....