Language Barriers

I am finding that as I get older I am getting less and less patient.  (James, who is sitting here watching me type, says "Ain't that the truth."  I'm not sure who asked him.)  Any way, the McDonalds near us has made me so angry that I actually boycotted it for a year.  I would literally drive 15-20 minutes to go to the next closest one just so I could avoid the one that is less than 5 minutes away because for a period of time, they always got my order wrong.  It's not that difficult.  It is almost always for Christopher and is almost always a double cheeseburger, small fries and a Dr. Pepper.  How hard can it be?  But, I digress.

This past Friday I had another language barrier issue, but I was able to just smile about it.  We had our annual Memorial Day reunion at my Uncle D's and Aunt Pat's.  We look forward to it so much every year so this year I decided I would get a special pedicure just for the day.  Right beside the McDonalds is a nail salon with very, very nice ladies from Vietnam.  They always do such a nice job.  I asked for something red, white and blue.  Maybe a flag.  Told her to be creative.

A friend of mine came in while I was there.  I hadn't seen her in quite a while.  Kim is recovering from breast cancer so we had a lot to catch up on.  I wasn't paying attention to my toes....what a surprise.  I am not crazy about sharing a picture of my toes, but I did get a chuckle out of my "red, white, and blue" pedicure.

And, just for the record, this is the first time ever my toenails have been black.

17 years

Seventeen years ago today I married my best friend.  There were crazy things that happened, but all that mattered to us was that at the end of the day we would be married.

Keith, I love you and thank you for 17 awesome years.  I'm looking forward to five times that!

Faces of History 2012

So many of my posts tend to be about James.  I think that's because he's always doing something.  Christopher, on the other hand, spends a lot of time thinking and planning.  One thing he has always enjoyed is creating costumes.  There is a perfect marriage each spring when his class does a "Faces of History" presentation.  Each student picks a person from the period they are studying.  They research this person and they write a paper about him or her.  The culmination is to do a presentation in front of all the other students and parents of their paper, but in first person.  Then everyone tries to guess. 

Christopher's person is from modern history.  

And, it won't surprise anyone who knows him to know that this person is closely associated with weaponry.

Can you guess which American war he fought in?

The gun became part of his arsenal at Christmas.  He was looking forward to February and ask for this particular gun so he could play with it, but also use it in his presentation.

Believe it or not, this replica gas mask was already in his chest of various war "things."  We had to purchase the hat, but everything else he (or someone in our house) already had.  He just has such an eye to put it together.

This person was from Tennessee and even though he was practically a rock star when he returned to New York after the war, he wasn't interested in the money or fame.  He just wanted to go home.

He was a believer who lived his faith even on the battlefield.  Any ideas?

Meet our very own Alvin York.  Christopher did such a great job.  I was so proud of him!