The two men most important to me (my husband and my son) have abandoned me and my daughter. Apparently there is something nearer and dearer to their hearts than we are.

I’m just kidding.

They’re off on a manly bonding adventure. To Kansas City.

Isn’t that where all men go for manly things to do?

I know, I know. You’re thinking barbecue. Or, you’re thinking we’re Italian, there is a large Italian community there, so we must have family there.

Wrong on both counts.

They’re there for the Baseball All-Star Game.

My son is so excited. They have great seats for the celebrity game, the home run derby, and the all star game itself. I’d tell you where to look for them on television, but you don’t know what they look like.

So what are my daughter and I going to do? We’ll be like Cinderella, of course. Cleaning and scrubbing and washing for their triumphant return.

Not.

I mean, of course some tidying will need to be done in their absence. I’m not a heathen. But if they’re on vacation, why shouldn’t we be, too?

My daughter had her purse packed the second they left the driveway. She has her route planned through the different malls she wants to hit for every day they’re gone. That’s right. Different malls every day.

I was thinking facials, manicures… she’s thinking BOGOs and clearance racks. And some high end stores thrown in to balance out her haul. (She just had a birthday. She’s ready to go.)

When the cat’s away the mice will play. And when the men are away, the ladies will shop.

 Happy Father’s Day! Today is the day set aside to celebrate dads. It was first celebrated in Washington in 1910 in response to Mother’s Day, but it sort of fell into obscurity. It gained national recognition in the 1930s, with the Father’s Day Council being founded in 1938. After years of debate in the government and media, President Lyndon B. Johnson issued a proclamation honoring fathers on the third Sunday in June as Father’s Day in 1966. And here we are today, the third Sunday in June, 2012, honoring dads.

I don’t do it because of a response to Mother’s Day. I don’t do it because of the media hype. I don’t do it because of the presidential decree. I do it because I have a great dad. And so does my husband. And my husband is a wonderful father to our kids.

They deserve some recognition for that.

So today, instead of trying to check items off my honey-do list, I’m going to tell my husband how much I appreciate him just the way he is. And I’m going to tell all the other dads in my life the same.

I hope you all have a great father’s day, how ever you choose to spend it.

Today is Flag Day, or the commemoration of the day the United States adopted the use of the American Flag as a symbol for our nation. I am proud of my mostly Italian heritage, and I am proud of my Irish, Scottish, German and Dutch heritage as well, although I know very little about my father’s side of the family compared to my mother’s. But I am 100% American and proud of it, today and everyday. I appreciate the freedoms that I have and the soldiers who have fought and are fighting to give those freedoms to me (my niece being one of them). When I see the Stars and Stripes, I know what they represent, and I am grateful. I’m spending some time today thinking about our great nation, and contemplating where we’ve been and where we’re headed. I encourage you all to do the same… and to display a flag. Proudly.

Picture: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flag_Day_(United_States)

Originally posted May 29, 2012

This is probably more of a journal entry, but I wanted it here because it’s so important to me.

I have a niece currently in the Navy and several family members (living and deceased) who served in the military in the past. Not to mention several friends I met when I lived near Wright Patt AFB who used to serve or still serve.

Happy Memorial Day. Let’s not now, nor ever, forget those who have served and those who have died to give us the freedoms we currently enjoy