Weblog 323

April 22, 2012~ 6:30 am
I've been LOCKED OUT of Blogger for the weekend. Somehow......I clicked that damnable 'Upgrade to New Version' at some point late last week and cannot REVERT back to the classic version without using XP at work. (Or so I thought! BLOGGER did this all on their own, in their push to force folks into the new interface, which this old computer cannot access at all. I DID find a workaround for the time being. After that..... who knows? This place may become 'extinct'. Hell, I can only log on NOW via a proxy. Crap.) So.......... here I am at last. A 'day late and a dollar short.'

And YES..... Friday, the day I took off, Wayne and I did indeed get our marriage license downtown. We are officially on our way to being a married couple in less than a month.



(That's not really us.....LOL....it's Madame Blavatsky and Henry S. Olcott in 1888) but it's a photo always makes us laugh because we say 'it's the two of us'...or should be.

After we did the formal stuff, we met up with our friend Rich and toured the Block House at the Point, as well as the 'Fort Pitt Museum'....... RIFE with scary looking indians like King Beaver in the entry hall



--smoking his pipe and looking no-nonsense serious. There are wonderful displays and short movies on both floors of the museum, outlining the conflicts and details of day-to-day living in this military hot spot at the confluence of three major rivers in mid-18th century Pennsylvania. The SCARIEST display was the inside of a typical trading post.



Just beyond the doorway, you come face to face with this fella...(Wayne said, "Hey Kay! Check this guy out!").



and MAN! He scared the BEJEESUS out of me! Soooooo REAL looking. I remember when we visited Fort Necessity, they had a bald warrior whose face was painted white and he looked fierce as can be, but the next time we stopped in about 6 months later, his face was repainted flesh-colored. When we asked the National Park Service guide about it, she said he was frightening the children in the educational touring groups. (I shiver to think what kind of bed-wetting nightmares THIS GUY will bring about. Holy crap.)

The day was overall, gloriously bright and sunny and memorable. And we're one step closer to our future, signed and sealed.

Saturday......... it rained ALL DAY LONG. Despite the dismal weather, we took a trip to Slickville to hear a 'Civil War Medicine' informative lecture, eat period food and listen the 'Yankee Brass' in authentic uniforms, playing instruments from that time.



(Actually, due to getting lost along the way, we arrived about a half hour late and heard only the very end of the concert. I declare there are more Rt 22's with forks and parallels, and there's William Penn Highway.... OLD William Penn Highway..... honest to Pete, if you're from the South Hills born and bred, the east and driving into Westmoreland County is like another planet. Especially in the rain. LOL!!) I stopped twice to ask directions, and I swear the kind young man at the last place repeated them at least 6 times before I honestly understood, but we arrived and caught two of the tunes before the lecture began.



Oh, and yes, they had HARD TACK on the menu (which is like holding a ceramic tile in your hand)- inedible, but really neat that they actually made some. (I think if I'd had more time, I would have attempted eating it after letting it soak in my coffee for 15 minutes or so.) Here's a large portion of the menu.



(See that last entry? IDIOT'S CAKE..... I don't know for certain I had some, but I sure felt dumber by Saturday evening, especially after banging my head against the wall trying to get into Blogger.)

It was a soggy, but an enjoyable day. The speaker was excellent, and I learned a few things I never knew before and that's always surprising and welcome. Since the event was hosted by The Saltsburg Herb Society, there were plenty of fresh flowers on the tables. We got in too late to buy tickets for the basket raffles, but my boss, who's the president of the society, made sure I got to take one of the table centerpieces home, even though I didn't have a ticket that matched the one on the bottom of the vase. (See? That's what 'connections' will do for ya'.)



How PRETTY it looks on my dining room table! And here are those blooms a bit closer......



Even PUSSY WILLOWS..... which are as soft as baby chicks and one of my favorite things. We had a good time despite the rain...... despite getting lost...... and even despite Wayne's bum hip, which began to act up Saturday, so he used a cane. (Made him look right in character, talking about the Civil War wounded, with him hobbling and grumping a bit. LOL!!) And now I can say I ate peanut soup..... and maybe...... no, probably.... the Idiot Cake. Somehow, that just suits me. :)




April 23, 2012~ 6:30 pm
At last.... I can share the BEST OF NEWS!



My son has officially taken off, that's boots 'OFF THE GROUND' from his 5 month deployment in Afghanistan (and my heart can finally come out of my mouth.) Man..... the past months have been hair-raising for all who know and love him.

But just as when he returned from Iraq, I have such heartache for those who are still there and the families stateside who watch... and wait..... and hope. GET THESE SOLDIERS OUT. We've waited and sacrificed long enough and for too, too little.

Welcome home, Major. You have a big.... (and HAPPY) fan club. Release the balloons!!!!!




April 24, 2012~ 5:15 pm
Miracles really do happen! When I got home today from work, THIS is the email I found, forwarded by Matt's dad:

"I am sitting in the Atlanta USO, and I am on a 3:20PM to KC. If all goes well, I'll be hugging my kids and kissing my wife around 4:45PM KC-time. Life is good.

Love, Matt"

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