Happy Fourth of July

Wow…it has been a busy couple of days. With my trip to Utah rapidly approaching, I was determined to hit the gym both Monday and Tuesday (it is closed today for the holiday). This way I could justify missing the rest of the week as I will be out of town. Last night after the gym, a group of us decided to see the movie Transformers and had ourselves a good ol’ time. I really had fun and it made me laugh a lot but I didn’t get home till after 1 am. Knowing I had to be at the parade grounds @ 9:45 am at the latest, I was in bed by 2 am. Lol! Yeah not all that early, I know, I am working on it. I'll get to bed early one of these days....Lol!

This morning, I was up and on the metro by 9 am allowing me to get to the parade grounds on time. There was a small snafu when I realized I had left my cell phone on the train. Thanks to the wonderful workers of the DC Metro, I was only delayed by about 20 minutes for my own stupidity. I think they are my favorite people right now!


As you can see there was a lot of waiting around as we blew up the 5 balloons. Once out Pink Cheer Bear was up and floating we just sat holding our ropes until it was time to leave. I had time to meet those handling the ropes around me.There were a few other members of the LDS church, they had volunteered through the Church as I had. But the rest of the group was made up of volunteers from various organizations.On my left today was Cha Cha and Kara, they are friends who live in Alexandria and work with a volunteer group in DC. On my left was Randy. Randy was in town for a Model Teachers conference. In and ironic twist, he teaches middle school just a few miles from my parents house in Utah. He was kind enough to help me figure out how to work the ropes, so I didn’t get them all tangled while I was walking. The parade was fun, in front of us was a fire engine full of fire fighters from DC. Behind us was a marching band from Missouri. They played jazz music the whole time and they weren’t half bad. All in all it was a fun time.

When I reached the end of the route and Cheer Bear was deflated, I decided that if I was in the district I should see the Folklife Festival. This year they were showcasing Northern Ireland, The Roots of Virginia (including Kent England), and the Mekong River area in South East Asia. I had the time to walk around and just see the sights. Learn of the different cultures, smell the different foods, and listen to the various types of music. I also got the chance to eat a huge piece of watermelon "Pollyanna Style". For some reason it made me think of my little sister Gretchen. So I had some tourists take a picture of it for her. Lol! On the whole the festival was fascinating to me. I love learning new things and I picked up 2 new books and a new bag to commemorate my learning. I am excited to read more about the areas I saw.

After wandering around and realizing there were too many tourists for my liking, I decided I was tired and needed to head home to freshen up before the fireworks tonight. I am lucky to have friends that work a few blocks from the White House so we have tickets to stand on the roof top of their office building and watch this years fireworks. It looks to be a good show. If I could get off of my rear to get there. Lol! Unfortunately I am exhausted. Lol! And I have yet to pack for my trip tomorrow. Wish me luck and lots of caffeine so I can get it all done tonight.

I hope every one is having a wonderful holiday and realizing how lucky we are to live in this country with the freedoms we enjoy.

Happy Independence Day!


***UPDATE**** Due to a tornado warning and the thunder I listened to most of the evening I decided to skip the fireworks this year. So Sad. Oh well I will have to survive. Lol! At least it gives me time to pack for my trip to Utah. ;)