Memorial Day

Memorial Day around here always means going to the local parade. Obviously it's a time to remember those who have died while serving in the US military, but it's not just serviceman and former servicemen who march in the parade. Many of the local Boy Scout and Girl Scouts march too, and representatives from other local organizations, including the town council, the local community band and the high school marching band. There is always a large variety of vehicles, most of which are very shiny and very noisy - lots of sirens and horns going! The local air force base sends a couple of planes to do a fly past at the beginning and end of the parade. The one at the end is usually very low and very loud. The kids' favorite part is usually the fact that many of those in the parade carry large quantities of candy that they throw at children sitting on the side of the road.

And when it's all done we return home to a barbecue lunch. Not the first of the season, as DH likes to grill even in the winter, but often the first with fresh corn on the cob and somehow it still marks the beginning of summer even if the forecast for later this week is for colder weather again!

All in all, Memorial Day is a lot more upbeat than Remembrance Day and if you don't catch the speeches at the cemetery after the parade, it can be difficult to make the connection between the occasion and what it is we are supposed to be remembering.
















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Well trained!

DD went to a classmate's birthday party this afternoon. They had rented a local ice rink. The group had the entire rink to themselves for about an hour and got to watch the Zamboni clean up the ice before they skated. Then when the Zamboni came back out, the girls retreated to a squash court where tables were set up for them to have snacks, cake and ice cream. While they were doing that the public skating session started, so once they were done with snacks they got to go back out on the ice for another hour. DD had a blast. The only other time she's been skating was when she was in pre-school. She was nervous at first this afternoon, but gradually gained in confidence, despite three quite hard falls resulting on one very bruised knee.

I discovered that skating is not like riding a bicycle. Even admitting the fact that I was never particularly good at skating even when I was a teenager, my performance today was pathetic. I could blame the rental skates I suppose. I still have the skates I had as a teenager, and they still fit, which thoroughly confused DD whose feet are still growing. However, even though DH kindly cleaned the rust off them, my blades were in dire need of sharpening and when I discovered that there was no one at the rink who could sharpen them for me I decided it would be safer to go with the rentals. I pottered around the rink a couple of times and that was enough. It was much more fun hanging out at the side of the rink gossiping with the other mommies and taking photos of the kids.

DD enjoyed herself so much that she decided that she wants to go skating again on a regular basis AND she'd like her next birthday party to be at the rink. The last few years she's had the option of taking a family trip to somewhere like Washington D.C. instead of a party and has always chosen the trip. So I asked her if she'd rather have the skating party than a family trip. (The party would probably be the cheaper option!) Her answer proved she is well-trained: "Hmm. Can we go to Canada?"

Search terms

I find it interesting to look at the search terms that have led people to my blog. There's a wide variety and looking at them I see how some led to my blog, but not others:

would you immigrate to the American state
graphs of culture shock
American almost monarchy
American friendliness versus British reticence
filling out a green visa on the plane
American culture time flies when you’re having fun
American bizarre
mcdonalds scottish restaurant radio bam
average American dinner time
things you can put maple syrup on
Americans shocked at British vacation time
places Americans shouldn’t travel
mailing maple syrup overseas
advantages of drive-thru weddings
drive thru bars
when is dinner time for most Americans
future plans and ambitions
statistics on people who cook casserole

The winners in terms of sheer frequency though are variations on the following two:

why Americans shouldn’t travel – 8%
Smarties vs m&ms – 16%!

The Why Some Americans Shouldn't be Allowed to Travel post was lazyblogging - little more than a link to another web page. The Smarties post was written back in January 2007.

Unimportant happy things

Bella Foxx tagged me. The rules are below.

Rules:

1. Mention the person who nominated you.
2. List six unimportant things that make you happy.
3. Tag six blogs, state the rules & notify them with a teeny comment on their blog.

Six things that make me happy, unimportant things . . . let me see . . . That's harder than I first thought! There are lots of little things that make me happy - like hugs and kisses from my kids & DH, but I wouldn't count those as unimportant because unimportant means something I could live without.

1. matching necklace and earring sets (I wore jewelery far more often B.C. - Before Children)
   
2. more pairs of shoes than DH thinks are necessary (I had more of those B.C. too!)
   
3. plants in the house (Don't have as many of those as I used to B.C. either. Hmm - there is a theme here!)
   
4. laundry that's been dried on the line (It's been 4 years since I had an outdoor clothes line, so clearly I can manage without it, but I'd still like to have one again.)
5. comments on my blog
   
6. a perfectly tidy and organized house! (It would be nice, but I seem to manage without it!)
   

Now I have to tag 6 people.
A Brit Different
A Brit Out of Water
Crunchie Mummy
Expatmum
Paradise Lost in Translation
Yael