Adventures with Dr. Lady Cutie Troublemaker

Dad write a lot of letters to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. Here’s one for Memorial Day:

What am I to remember on Memorial Day?  My own service during the Viet Nam War was in a non-combat area.  I remember it like any other time. But as a child, I recall the heros:  Eisenhower, McArthur, the men of Iwo Jima.  In my adult life, we’ve had Viet Nam, the Gulf War, and this current debacle.  I don’t look at them the same way.  I feel sorry for the young people who have fought in them. Very sorry that so
many have died.

I guess the Iraqi War is the final straw in the dissolution of any heroic memories.  We entered this war based on a lie.  We entered it unprovoked.  It’s now justified by saying that Hussein was a bad, dangerous man, his soldiers committed atrocities.  I now see our president as a bad, dangerous  man, and read about our soldiers commiting atrocities.  America is just another country with the foolish notion that only power can prevail in the world – power without principles.

What am I to remember on Memorial Day?  What I feel is shame.

Where I grew up.

Where I used to live.

Where I live.

Where I once lived and will live again.

Nanny’s life (from my old web site).

Someone else beside my Dad and Adam’s dad roasts pigs! They seem to appreciate the complexity of the thing.

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I’m at my parents’ cabin in the mountains. Just had a lovely dinner with some of their friends. Dinner was super tasty. Mary Ann made the only roast beef I’ve ever enjoyed, and my parents made Yorkshire Pudding, peas, carrots, brussel sprouts, gravy, fresh bread, potatoes, and bread pudding for dessert. I wasn’t expecting an English feast, but it was way yum. I took some pix for more food porn fun.

My mother and I both ordered many things from Amazon, but we both used her name for the shipping, so we have all these boxes here, and we don’t know which gifts are hers to wrap and which are mine. Whoops! I guess we’ll just take turns opening Amazon boxes in the morning.!

To all my friends this Christmas Eve… have yourself merry little Christmases, m’kay?

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Well, it was an exhausting week. I was exhausted when it started, but it was a different kind of overworked exhaustion. As silly as it sounds, I was really happy to tire myself in a different way. At least I saw people I love. At least I had some really great meals. Maybe there was a lot of socializing and not much down time, but lately, there’s been too much work and not much down time. I am sitting here realizing that I have to do all of my shopping and a LOT of job search work in the next few weeks. Lots to do and not nearly enough time to do it, but I guess that’s kind of par for the course.

Regarding the details of Thanksgiving, many of us spent the morning at Elfo’s chopping and prepping for the meal. David is my parents’ friend Mary Ann’s son, and the head chef. He is also mellow as can be… not at all like the chefs they show on TV who bark orders at all of their underlings.

The chopping scene on Thanksgiving morning.

The Thanksgiving group watches The 2004 Kennel Club of Philadelphia Dog Show with great interest!

David and company quietly made a large tasty meal for about 30 people. We ate it in Elfo’s, which was closed for the day. It was tasty stuff.

Mom models the new backpack and dumps the old fanny pack. Yay!

Look! Actual people in my apartment!

The rest of the week involved lots of restaurants, a nice walk on the Mississippi, a trip to the National Ornamental Metal Museum, and general hanging out with the family. My plans to make little snowmen out of mints never quite materialized, but I think I’ve recovered!

Aaron gains wisdom from Dad outside the bookstore.

At least Aaron and I got a little decorating done around here:

Purty!

Miss Maggie just loves lying under the Christmas tree, real or fake! (Sadly, it’s a fake this year. I’m going to be gone for 10 days, so it’s not really worth the expense and effort to get a real one.) 🙁

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