Object of Joy Part 2

I forgot to post a picture of my Object of Joy in its new frame. It looks AMAZING in person!!
Now I need to work on framing all of my other cycling goodies, however, I think this one is going to be my favorite for a VERY long time! It's final resting place will be downstairs in our workout room. Granted, we still need to finish that room so....it's still in the great room upstairs. It's nice being able to see it as I leave the house everyday.

Up 3D

Time to post a few things from earlier this summer.
Adam, Lauren (my step-daughter), and I finally went to go see Up 3D at the end of May. GREAT MOVIE! The only downside for me was the 3D effect thing. It was great in some parts but it gave me a headache. The new glasses are much better than those old paper ones but...still killed my head. Ah well, the movie made up for it! I would love to see this again in the regular format.
Here are a few pics from our little outing.

Recognition

I got this email today and have already checked it out on www.snopes.com to see if it is true, which it is. I thought it was fitting to post this on Independence Day. Don't get me wrong.....I was also sad to hear about the passing of famous stars and others that have touched people's lives, I just thought that this one was also worth hearing about.

Ed Freeman

You're a 19 year old kid. You're critically wounded, and dying in the jungle in the Ia Drang Valley ,11-14-1965, LZ X-ray, Vietnam . Your infantry unit is outnumbered 8 - 1, and the enemy fire is so intense, from 100 or 200 yards away, that your own Infantry Commander has ordered the MediVac helicopters to stop coming in.

You're lying there, listening to the enemy machine guns, and you know you're not getting out. Your family is 1/2 way around the world, 12,000 miles away, and you'll never see them again. As the world starts to fade in and out, you know this is the day.

Then, over the machine gun noise, you faintly hear that sound of a helicopter, and you look up to see an un-armed Huey, but it doesn't seem real, because no Medi-Vac markings are on it...
Ed Freeman is coming for you. He's not Medi-Vac, so it's not his job, but he's flying his Huey down into the machine gun fire, after the Medi-Vacs were ordered not to come. He's coming anyway. He drops it in, and sits there in the machine gun fire, as they load 2 or 3 of you on board. Then he flies you up and out through the gunfire, to the Doctors and Nurses.

And, he kept coming back.... 13 more times..... And took about 30 of you and your buddies out, who would never have gotten out.

Medal of Honor Recipient, Ed Freeman, died last Wednesday at the age of 80, in Boise, ID . . . May God rest his soul.

I bet you didn't hear about this hero's passing, but we sure were told a whole bunch about some Hip-Hop coward beating his "girlfriend"; or the passing of Fawcett & Jackson

Christmas in July

There is one benefit to my family being in Cedar City while I am home in Branson....Christmas in July! Yep, that's right folks. When everyone is out of town I tend to get bored. What do I do when I'm bored? I shop! It's hard not to when you are surrounded by 3 outlet malls and another mall on the lake. Throw in the fact that there are a ton of sales going on right now because of the holiday weekend......

Now I know what you are thinking....but you're wrong. I actually went shopping for other people today. I am one of those people that has her Christmas shopping finished before the holidays arrive. What I don't pick up during the year from online sales or from today, I'll finish up at the Thanksgiving sales.

Today was pretty crazy at Tanger Outlet. For those of you that aren't familiar with that little slice of heaven, it is an outlet mall with decent shops. Granted, I don't think the prices are really "outlet" prices anymore but that's ok. At Tanger you will find shops like Ann Taylor, Banana Republic, Tommy, Gap, Old Navy, Aeropostale, American Eagle, Liz Claiborne, Polo, Children's Place, Osh Kosh, Carter's, Black & Decker, Skechers, Bath & Body, and much much more. People drive hours to go to the major sales. It's madness at the Thanksgiving sales when they open at midnight.

Today I spent the majority of my time at Banana Republic and Ann Taylor, taking care of all the female gifts, including Christmas gifts for this year and birthday gifts for next year. who knew you can get an extra discount by opening an Ann Taylor card? Ok, a few of you already knew that....BUT....did you know that you can pay it off right away at the counter thus avoiding any finance charges? How cool is that? You can pay with your debit card, which I was planning on doing anyway. WOOT!

The only down side of today was the fact that I had enough time to try clothes on and finally decided to at Ann Taylor. I always avoided their pants and shorts by not knowing what size I am. For those ladies out there, you know what I mean. It's a pain sometimes to try the bottoms on so that you can figure out your exact size. Once you do though....all you have to do is grab it off the rack because you know what fits you, thus making it easier to spend. I found out today that I am a OOP and they fit perfectly. *sigh* Now I need to avoid the sale racks in order to save my already dwindling closet and drawer space.

Oh..and yes, I did break down and get a couple things for myself...I'm not completely unselfish!