Thank you to all who have and are currently serving in any branch of U.S. military. Thank you for the veterans of our allies, particularly those in my other country's of the UK and France, who I always think about as well. I think the British do a much better job honoring their veterans in the month of November. Poppies being worn on television shows, and displays are in in full force making sure those of us that didn't really experience any sacrifice, are reminded and hopefully will reflect. I grew up always having a poppy in my jacket or coat as both parents were very VFW active. I didn't come about anyone with the poppy stands this year to make a donation, though not required, and get a poppy. My brother served but was not considered having served in a war, which doesn't make sense to me because he served during Vietnam, but just was not stationed in Vietnam, or Cambodia, but he is involved with the American Legion. My nephew is a VFW member, because he was stationed off the coast of Afghanistan, and my sister who was Army National Guard is a an American Legion member. Both my dad and nephew were both. If someone knows better than me how it works, feel free to correct, but I am proud of them all, plus my neighbors and friends, and many colleagues.
I'm not going to the program today as it is at a smaller middle school venue than last year and it was pretty packed last year at the high school. DD2 played in the orchestra last year and my great niece is singing in her choir this year. DD1 and I are going to go for lunch at a vegan restaurant we have wanted to try. On their menu is something called a Community Bowl, which you can order as a bowl or in a wrap. For an extra $5.00, you can buy a Community Bowl token that allows you to pay it forward and they use the tokens to offer meals to those in need. I think it is a great way to support community, and seems a fitting place to have lunch and a way to pay it forward by buying a couple tokens and thank those who paid so generously for what I have through their service. The brewery isn't open on Monday and Tuesday as that's brewing day. They have a wall to add names for people and pre-buy a beer for them. There is a blanket line item for veterans and anyone can add to the kitty.
When we are in the city, I need to drop my computer off at Bet Buy and see if they can reload the operating system. I've tried all the online fixes, but I'm not getting the same screens they show. It is frustrating since it is only 18 months old, but it was an inexpensive model. I hope it is a minor fix and if not, will need to determine if it is worth the expense. I've been much better at getting things off the hard drive and onto a second drive, so haven't lost anything other than familiarity at this point. I am using DD2's HP she didn't take with her since she got the Mac for college. Hers has a bigger screen and key board area which is confusing to me after using my smaller keyboard for so long. For a few tasks, I could use my work computer, checking messages quick or banking but we are not supposed to really use company equipment for anything but incidental personal use. I think blogging, watching YouTube, streaming etc. falls well out of the incidental use intent. Fingers crossed my issue is minor as it said on several web pages when I looked for help.
I'm doing a few hours of work from home, not that I have to but it will see the week up much better. Many of the organizations I work with do not have today off work, so there will still be e-mails and contacts and with no one to refer them to through an auto reply, I don't want anything urgent to fall off. I've got a couple cleaning steps I want to tackle and watch a YouTube on how to use my Instapot. DD1 and I tried the test mode with water, but it seemed a bit scary and the directions were vague and trailed off. I want to make the egg roll in a bowl and do some dry bean cooking. Not sure else what I would use for with just the two of us, but I see these young busy mom's with lots of mouths to feed using their IP's regularly. That's it for Monday, and talk with you tomorrow.
I just looked on the British Legion web site (which is where I got my poppy broach), and last year they raised £31 million for current and former servicemen and their families just from the sale of poppies. It also says that in 2008 they raised £104.1 million from appeals, poppies and legacies. So there is a very good reason for us to buy our poppies. I've seen a few comments online (admittedly rare) on a couple of occasions where people were scandalized that "X" wasn't wearing a poppy! It's still a very strong institution (and long may it remain that way)!
ReplyDeleteI think that's terrific. Are they worn all November or just November 11?
DeleteI used to see them and wear the every Veteran's Day. I never see them anymore
ReplyDeleteSon3 uses the instapot all the time and he is just cooking for himself and his wife.
The pot is huge though-bigger than my large crock pot, so if I master it, Ill need to figure out an accessible storage location. I had it still in the box on a very high shelf on the laundry room.
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