5 Ways to Show Thanks on Veteran's Day

How do you say thank you for all those who have served and to those serving today. Here are a few ideas to get you started.

I .. like most .. probably do not know where to start. So start at the beginning. First you should start by knowing what you are celebrating. You may click here for a brief history. 

Another way is to wear a red poppy to show support for veteran and active duty service members. The American Legion Auxiliary distributes red crepe paper poppies on Memorial Day and Veterans Day nationwide. The poppies are all handmade by veterans as part of their therapeutic rehabilitation, and donations received in exchange for the flowers go directly to assist disabled and hospitalized veterans in our communities. You may click here to find you local American Legion office.

Simple but yet hard for some people .. it to acknowledge and thank them directly for their service. Through out the year be mindful of those who wear their veteran caps or uniform with pride. When you see someone .. simple walk up and say 'excuse me Sir/Ma'am I saw your cap and I wanted to thank you -- your service is appreciated'. The look of gratefulness is priceless. Or if you speak with a co-worker and they let you know that they have served kindly thank them or buy them a cup of coffee .. they will feel connected to you. 

Something that can be done through out the year is to visit a Veterans hospital or care facility. Most people in care facility have families that are away from them and have to go through their day alone. Sit with them .. talk with them .. play cards .. read a book .. watch the football game … all anybody really wants is just a little bit of company.

Another way to show your appreciation year-round is to support a veteran-owned business. This can be a bit trickier since only a select few identify their business. You can contact your local chamber of commerce to see if they have any resources or click here to help you find veteran-owned businesses near you.

Last is to show them you care by sending a care package. Click here and here for some ideas and here for organizations. 

Happy 22nd Anniversary

This is the year .. this year you are going to fall deeply and madly in love with me.

Sweetheart .. I already am. 

Happiness

I know what you are thinking ... What? It is barely September! .. I know but I just could not help myself. Hubby agrees with you but compromised that I could only do the inside.  I think in some bizarre way that if I put out Autumn decorations that nice weather will bestow upon the land. I know it is not rational but it just has been sooo warm for sooo long.

So this past weekend the Fall décor boxes were brought in to be sifted through. It is like seeing some very dear friends .. beautiful memories just flood to the present. We have been to Hobby Lobby and Michaels and just picking up just little filler items. I am thinking of getting a new wreath for the front door -- I am still on the hunt for the perfect item.

Kerplunk!! Minion Style

With the temperature holding steading around 100* Mr. and I were trying to come up with creative and fun ways to spend time with Baby Bean. We are so blessed that we get to spend nearly every Saturday with her. We are about half and half with taking her back to our home to play with Henry or run around outside or play in her little pool and taking her on an outing like an indoor play land or Children's Museum.

She is 3 1/2 and is such a wonderful joyful child with tremendous energy. One of the joys we found is that she enjoys is bean bag toss. We set up in the hall way and she knows that her spot is next to the outlet while ours is about a foot behind her. She waits her turn and is so enthusiastic when someone else gets the point. To her it is just a matter of having fun .. not score keeping or winning. Which is great because I am horrible at this game and she will more than likely win anyhow.

Christmas 2016

Mr. and I were at the store running some errands and he says how he would like to see if we can find a game we can play with her. He was leaning toward board games but when we started figuring out what we wanted to accomplish [enjoy an interactive game .. no bells or sirens .. nothing too drawn out or complicated] we saw that Kerplunk had a Minion version .. well we had found our new fun activity. Since we play bean bag toss as a one on one and this one is played by everyone she does try to get a turn after each person. No Maddy ...  it goes Pop-Pop, Grandma then you ... not Maddy, Pop-Pop, Maddy, Grandma and Maddy again. Nice try kiddo. That and she thinks the object is to have the Minions fall. She isn't yet into winning/losing or whose pile is bigger but she does sit and counts everyone's pieces and then she says good job [10 Minions Pop-Pop good job --- heart melting].

Summer Re-Cap

WOW!! The calendar is saying summer is about over and Autumn is fast approaching. Truthfully it doesn't feel that way here in Phoenix --- it typically stays warm up until November. I thought I would do a quick recap of our summer activities.

Our one big outing was to the Children's Museum. It is in a refurbished old school in downtown and it is pretty cool. Since it still has the old charm it made me feel like I was back in the 4th grade -- no running in the hallway and keeping your voice a bit lower. The activities were not only created to spark imagination but allow the kids to play in each other's imaginary world. Maddy can be a bit shy around others - she stands there and stares at them - but when asked to play she is all in. She watches what others are doing as if she is seeing an instructional video before she starts any activity. There was the rolling balls through a maze [different start points have different endings], the  pretend market / restaurant, and there was pool noodles hanging from the ceiling maze. Which was a BLAST!! When you first walk in to the museum you see this mammoth play structure and the first thing I thought is that Maddy will never go in that. Well .. I was wrong. Mind you she wouldn't go by herself but she did have a buddy who was willing to go into 'The Cage'. Are you guys taking in just how HUGE this thing is!! The pictures don't do it justice .. this thing was ginormous!!!

We balance our Grandparent outings with just bringing her home to enjoy some quieter times such as movies, games, pool, or just laying on the grass and watching the clouds. 

Watching kitten videos with Pop-Pop

All The Missing Girls

I was so, so, so excited about wanting to read this book. I wanted to absolutely love it and even now I am still not too sure if I like it .. I think I need to re-read it. This is more mystery than thriller that truly started 10 years prior. After a night at the fair a group of close teen age friends disperse to go home and that evening one of the girls goes missing. Soon after our main character, Nicolette [Nic], flees and tries to leave her past far behind her.  Fast forward and Nic returns back to her small town with all its secrets to help her brother sell the family home to pay for their father's elder care. A few days after her return another girl goes missing. Nic believes that the two disappearances are connected to each other and somehow also to her. As she starts to dig into the vanishing of her friend she uncovers some dark secrets and how sometimes you can never truly run from your past.

I know it sounds like a great story, however, it is not the plot that dooms it but it is the creative writing style. This book starts on Day 1 and jumps to Day 15 and works it way backwards [Day 14, Day 13, ect]. You are a bit confused not just of the story plot but the relationships developing. The main character is suppose to be sleep deprived and at times irrational. Remember as a kid ... you would spin and spin so fast with your eyes opened that everything got blurry and when you stopped you felt so disoriented and you couldn't focus well THAT is how I felt reading this book. The jumping around made you feel Nic's desperation to find 'the truth'. I kept loosing the plot so much that I got frustrated - so a few chapters in I started to read the book chronologically .. yes it lost a bit of the suspense but I didn't care at least I could follow the story. The chain of events made so much more sense. It's not the worst book I have read but it is definitely not the amazing 'compulsive read' that it's made out to be.

*SPOILER* The only real question I have is 'what happened to the baby'?

Private .. LA

I know I was going to take a break from reading any Patterson books but technically this is a collaboration book. Lately I have ben finding his books a kinda dark and a bit disturbing which is why I was wanting to take a break. Maybe I have not truly paid too much attention or perhaps reading a book you have much more details to describe a moment .. where as in a movie it is just a moment and it is processed differently. It was there with Kiss the Girls but again with the movie there wasn't explicit actions being shown but your mind gets the idea that things are happening.

Alright .. enough of this. So back to this book. This book seems to have three story lines in it .. the characters in this private detective agency appropriately named Private, the missing celebrity family and terrorist attacking the city for ransom. Well maybe it isn't as much as three different stories as it is the stories of the cliental of this detective agency. This investigative agency is known to take care of issues in a quick and very quiet manner. The main story is about a celebrity family The Harlows [think Brad and Angelina] who disappear from their family home without a trace - the agency is called in to help find them before the media notices they are gone. The Bradgenlina plot did try to be interesting by take the team to different countries, the resistance from their publicist and the reasoning for their disappearance was not too far fetched [I mean we all think celebrities are a bit .. quirky and weird].

The second story [which isn't even on the cover] seems a bit more interesting. It is about a group of terrorist who are holding the city for ransom and how much the city has to pay for their delinquency. He should have stayed with this story a bit longer.

Even though it took me a really really long time to read - it had to do more with time than the book. But I truly think I am going to take a break from Patterson and see what else is out there.