thoughts

Boredom….

Not alot to blog about today. Just random stuff so if it’s a jumbled mess, my apologies.

1) Dog sitting…. I’m looking for someone to watch my pup in mid March. Anyone interested? I want to go to Italy between about the 12 or 13 of March (over my birthday which is the 16th) until about the 25th/26th. The thought is my birthday n Italy and Easter in vatican city. Yep – it’d be the required pilgrimage. If you’re interested, let me know.

2) What a good Daughter am I?!? I’m such a good daughter that my dad (who has no clue about technology) now has a new laptop with all the bells and whistles – that he truly doesn’t need. No, not really. This is the man who called me up to ask how to use a cell phone. Then called me up later to have me teach him how to use his digital camera (and later from the place to get them developed to figure out where to put the sd card in the machine). When I asked him if he wanted a laptop or a desktop, he said well, what’s the difference? *head in hands* This means that for the next 5 weeks, he’ll have a new toy, call me every day and bug me about how to use it. I’ll have the snot annoyed out of me, wonder why I ever did it, and feel like I should just take it, pack it up and send it back to Dell. Oh and on a side note – I’m such a good daughter that I used my once a year employee discount to get him not just a “good” computer – I got him a great computer – for 500 cheaper than what the computer stores and dell were quoting him. Go ahead and say it – really…. ~Rose, what were you thinking?!? Yeah.. ok. Thanks.

3) Crash landing at Heathrow airport. I saw footage of this on the news tonight. all 130 something passengers got out with 17 minor scrapes but no one was hospitalized. Ok seriously – if I have to be in a plane crash, this is the one I want to be in – the one where everyone lives, the crew does everything right to evacuate the plane, there’s no explosion – and well, you now have a fabulous story to tell to the kidlings. Guess the Devil’s dice game got lost that round – huh?

4)Cool Photo Op – There’s a protester in Rome who put about a half a million of those plastic bouncy balls (think the mcd’s playground balls) down the spanish steps in protest. Go read the article at:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22684229/

and check out the pictures. It’s beautiful isn’t it? Gray cloudy sky, gray steps…. and brilliant rainbow colored balls bouncing their way down the steps. Gosh, I wish I was there with a camera!

Share

My Predictions for the Year 2008:

My Predictions for the Year 2008 (yeah it’s a little late but better now than never):
a) Oil will hit 125 a barrel.
b) Depression will hit – (Recession is just a fancy word for a Depression after all)
c) Paris Hilton will get preggers by either K-Fed or Larry Birkhead (of Anna Nicole Fame) who she’s been seen out and about with in the last month. (Ok let’s be honest, I’m actually rooting for this one because I think it’d be ironic and funny.)
d) Life will go on. Yep, for most of us, life will go on. SSDD – you know the deal.
e) I’ll make it to China (ok I’ve had this as a goal to see China in 2008 since 2002 so demmit – it had BETTER happen!)
What are yours?

Share

11th Day of the 11th Month at 11:11 AM…

The Origins of Veterans Day

 

In 1921, an unknown World War I American soldier was buried in Arlington National Cemetery. This site, on a hillside overlooking the Potomac River and the city of Washington, D.C., became the focal point of reverence for America’s veterans.
Similar ceremonies occurred earlier in England and France, where an unknown soldier was buried in each nation’s highest place of honor (in England, Westminster Abbey; in France, the Arc de Triomphe). These memorial gestures all took place on November 11, giving universal recognition to the celebrated ending of World War I fighting at 11 a.m., November 11, 1918 (the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month). The day became known as “Armistice Day.”
Armistice Day officially received its name in America in 1926 through a Congressional resolution. It became a national holiday 12 years later by similar Congressional action. If the idealistic hope had been realized that World War I was “the War to end all wars,” November 11 might still be called Armistice Day. But only a few years after the holiday was proclaimed, war broke out in Europe. Sixteen and one-half million Americans took part. Four hundred seven thousand of them died in service, more than 292,000 in battle.
Armistice Day Changed To Honor All Veterans
The first celebration using the term Veterans Day occurred in Birmingham , Alabama , in 1947. Raymond Weeks, a World War II veteran, organized “National Veterans Day,” which included a parade and other festivities, to honor all veterans. The event was held on November 11, then designated Armistice Day. Later, U.S. Representative Edward Rees of Kansas proposed a bill that would change Armistice Day to Veterans Day. In 1954, Congress passed the bill that President Eisenhower signed proclaiming November 11 as Veterans Day. Raymond Weeks received the Presidential Citizens Medal from President Reagan in November 1982. Weeks’ local parade and ceremonies are now an annual event celebrated nationwide.
On Memorial Day 1958, two more unidentified American war dead were brought from overseas and interred in the plaza beside the unknown soldier of World War I. One was killed in World War II, the other in the Korean War. In 1984, an unknown serviceman from the Vietnam War was placed alongside the others. The remains from Vietnam were exhumed May 14, 1998 , identified as Air Force 1st Lt. Michael Joseph Blassie, and removed for burial. To honor these men, symbolic of all Americans who gave their lives in all wars, an Army honor guard, the 3rd U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard), keeps day and night vigil.
A law passed in 1968 changed the national commemoration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. It soon became apparent, however, that November 11 was a date of historic significance to many Americans. Therefore, in 1978 Congress returned the observance to its traditional date.
National Ceremonies Held at Arlington National Cemetery
The focal point for official, national ceremonies for Veterans Day continues to be the memorial amphitheater built around the Tomb of the Unknowns. At 11 a.m. on November 11, a combined color guard representing all military services executes “Present Arms” at the tomb. The nation’s tribute to its war dead is symbolized by the laying of a presidential wreath. The bugler plays “taps.” The rest of the ceremony takes place in the amphitheater.
Veterans Day ceremonies at Arlington and elsewhere are coordinated by the President’s Veterans Day National Committee. Chaired by the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the committee represents national veterans organizations.
Governors of many states and U.S. territories appoint Veterans Day chairpersons who, in cooperation with the National Committee and the Department of Defense, arrange and promote local ceremonies.
Additional Information
Additional information on the history of Veterans Day, the Veterans Day National Committee, the national ceremony, a gallery of Veterans Day posters from 1978 to the present and a colorful and informative Veterans Day Teacher’s Resource Guide can be found on the Internet at

 

 

Share