G-d Bless This Country
I had a fabulous Independence Day weekend - thanks to family and friends! My favorite baby brother is leaving for Israel for a month this Wednesday (wow, the rain is really coming down!), so I spent Shabbos at my parents' house. It was great; I really miss them sometimes. And it was totally awesome seeing Ari - he's great (so frickin funny - and the biggest heart. I get all happy just thinking about him - I love him so darn much).. I cannot wait until our lunch this Tuesday. :)
We all played Scrabble (Abba, Mom, Ari, and myself), and I came so close to winning - I beat myself really.. such a middle child thing to say. :) It came down to the last round and my dad had to go to shul. So when it got to be his turn (and I was still winning), we all had to look at his rack and figure out where to put his tiles. He had Z, I, T, S which is a word but there was nowhere to put all the letters. Until I made the word "zitis". No one knew that word - not even my dad. :) Well, because I got rid of all his letters and Ari had 11 points in his rack, I lost. I blamed it on Ari but he got screwed also.. Wasn't his fault :). Ah well. I had wanted a challenge. LOL
Shabbos was very nice - and Rob even stopped by to say hello! He also dropped off some fireworks for us since we had none this year (had lit them all last year).
Sunday was a really nice day. I got up early, cleaned my house (it smells great!), watched a little of a tv show of the American Revolution from the British point of view (stupid British-apparently we were bullies and our attitudes were comparative to the Mujahadeen (!!)) and went to lunch with Sarah and her dad. Yummy food and great company! I then studied (stupid final) and headed over to our awesome amazing family BBQ/fireworks fun! Ezra is a judaica counselor at Camp Tamarack and only gets one day off - yesterday was the day. We all got together with friends (Sarah, Rob, Michael, David, Jamie, Timm, Joe-From-Across-The-Street) and ate hot dogs, hamburgers, and sang songs with Joe on the guitar. Then we lit our fireworks - I even got to light one! It was purple and white, very pretty :). We chatted a little before all going home - twas great.
Then today happened. The weather could've cooperated a little better, but what can ya do... I slept in, the best thing to do on a rainy holiday :). Watched tv and met up with my friends for a little bit at the Southfield Park. Ate good food (there is NO way to not eat meat on Independence Day :)) and played frisbee in the drizzle rain. HAHA... who knew how fun it could be?
Unfortunately, it was still raining so my plans to watch the Huntington Woods fireworks fell through. I *did* however, watch a little fireworks action from my car in my driveway. :D Neat-o! And then more on the tv. I LOVE THE FOURTH OF JULY!!!
Now I'm sitting in my bed, snuggled under my covers, watching the lightning in my window and hearing the thunder resound through the sky. I'm thinking of fireworks, friends, family, and those who died for our country and how wonderful this country really is... Can life get any better? G-d Bless this wonderful country and may it continue to be a strength and light to others...
Post Script: I want to send a special thank you to all our boys in the military, serving both here and abroad (past and present) - especially my friends Rob, Andy, James, Matt, Rick, Mr. Duffy, and all the parachuting cooks out there (SEALs) - you know who you are! Love you all, thank you from the bottom of my heart, and stay safe.