Never Forget

My mother says that she remembers the day that Kennedy was killed. 1963. I bet that she remembers the clothes that she was wearing, the class that she was in and the hours and days following the assassination. I bet if I talked to others in her generation, they would be able to tell me the same thing.

I was talking to a friend at lunch about this and she was telling me that she remembers what she was doing and where she was the day the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded. 1986. I remember too. I was a junior in high school and I remember my teacher crying while we watched the coverage on TV. She was crying, no doubt, for one of her fellow educators that was on that voyage.

1990. I came home from a dinner out with friends to find my Mom and Dad glued to the TV watching as Desert Storm began. I remember thinking the my Dad, an Army Reservist at the time, would not be called up and months later I was home from college helping him pack.

2001. I was a substitute teacher that did not get called in to work that day. I dropped my 2 year old son at Daycare and went home to watch Good Morning America. As I was driving home I remember thinking what a beautiful day it was. As I watched the events of 9-11 unfold LIVE on television, I could not believe my eyes. I cried for days. To this day I can pull up the exact feeling that I had when I watched those towers fall. I remember going to St. Helen's Church the next day to join with strangers in a novena for peace.

Every year when the coverage of 9-11 comes on TV I am jealous of my children. My children, one of which was born 9 months to the day after 9-11 ask me "Why would people fly those planes into the buildings if they knew that it would kill people?" How do I answer that? Is there an answer that?

As I write this, my wish for my children and the children of the world is that they will never sit and write a post like this. That they will never cry at the thought of events that occurred 10 years ago. That they will never have to endure the pain and sorrow that so many Americans endure today. That they will never have to stand in a church, hold hands with strangers and say a novena for peace.

Never forget? If you were alive and old enough to understand.........it is impossible to forget.

The Ballad of the Cluckwagon

Below is a progression of Facebook Posts based on my car incident....enjoy!

September 5 – 10:22am

is procrastinating....N&N were asked to bring the groceries in from my car Thursday and we discovered last night that they forgot a jumbo package of chicken in my trunk.......it smelled as disgusting as you are imagining it did....maybe worse. I need to go open up the car.....

September 5 - 12:23pm

Phase 2 of car de-stinkification is complete. EVERYTHING is OUT and baking soda everywhere. It is sitting in my driveway with all the windows and the trunk open. Already smells a little better.....a special thanks to Mother Nature for keeping precipitation to herself for now.

September 5 – 2:59pm

.....is afraid that "Phase 2" of de-skinkifying the car is going to take a lot longer than I want it to....****wimper**** Need to go run errands but will go later when Dave is home with the other car....

September 5 - 8:26pm

I have a new plan for anyone who would like to supress their appetite. I will come and pick you up in the chicken-mobile and we can drive around for a while and talk about it. David is taking the car to Delta Sonic to have the professionals deal with it......a good man indeed.

September 6 - 7:55pm

For anyone interested on an update from the cluckwagon.....it still smells foul. (Couldn't resist) We tried vinegar. Fail. Charcoal. Fail. Baking soda. Fail. Delta Sonic can take care of it for $80 and 6 hours but not until Saturday. May need to go borrow my parent's car til Saturday.

September 7 – 8:36

Cluckwagon update: Delta Sonic just called to say that they have shampooed the seats and carpets twice and run the "special machine" in it once and the car still smells....they are going to try the machine again. Guess I was quite an idiot to think that vinegar and charcoal would do the trick! Not sure what to do next if this does not work!

September 8 - 7:12

2 shampooings.....2 ionizing treatments......2 odor "bombs" and we are going to get the cluckwagon.....they say there is still a little bit of odor left....we will see. They said there is nothing more they can do. Cross your fingers!

September 8 - 9:15

Dave says that the cluckwagon just smells like the shampoo now......

Does that make it the "poo" wagon? (Thanks Becky)

For Natalie

Well I have been trying to get some of the summer projects done before school starts again on Wednesday and this is the one I wanted to do for Natalie. The last time that I was at Re-house with the double O girls, I picked up some old wood trim for a couple of dollars. I cut the trim into a bunch of pieces and primed and painted. I had made some door handles at Splatter's Pottery Studio back in June and had wanted to make necklace hangers (and still will....) but when I was at Hobby Lobby over the summer, I found the perfect handle for Natalie's. It is painted in her newest favorite color and is already full of necklaces. Fun!