I love history. I am not a huge buff or anything, but sometimes I find myself wanting to know more about a certain time or event. I read lots, whenever I can, until the desire is satiated. I live in an area that is rich in Civil War history. I find myself rather fascinated by it all. One thing that I never fully understood though, was re-enactments and such. I always thought it kind of funny.

This past weekend, our town hosted a WWII Living History weekend. I was asked to go on down and take some photos.




I got WAY more than I bargained for. It was AWESOME. There were no re-enactments to speak of (not that I witnessed anyway), but these people were dressed in clothes from the time period. They had tents and Jeeps and guns and other goods from the time period. They had small fires burning and they answered any questions we had.




What I found fascinating, were the stories behind the loot. Some of the weapons and artifacts that these people had were of a very personal nature, as they had been passed down from their grandfathers and great-grandfathers. A lot of the stuff was found on eBay, or in a back shed in someone's yard, long forgotten.




We talked to this one man for a very long time. His name escapes me now, but his story was fascinating. He has been a long time history buff, traveling far and wide to see sites of past battles. He is a huge collector of anything to do with WWI and WWII. As we looked at his guns, T asked him about a particular one. It looked a bit different from all of the others.




This gun was found in the shed behind the New Jersey house belonging to his nephew's girlfriend. It had been sitting in a corner for almost 60 years. The girl was a bit of an anti-gun freak and told her boyfriend that it had to go. He called his uncle, and shipped it to him. It had belonged to the girl's grandfather. He had shot and killed a Japanese soldier and then had taken his gun.

There are blood stains all over the gun. You can actually see where the soldier had been holding on to the gun. It was a somber moment. After he pointed that out to us, T and I got really quiet for a moment. The guy just said, "Yeah.....", as he let the reality of it settle in to our heads.

We talked to another man who was a Desert Storm vet. He had dual citizenship in Australia and had served in their armed forces as well. The guy was fascinating. He had his son with him, who seemed to be really enjoying himself.

There were 'German' soldiers there, as well as a tent with 'Russian' soldiers (some of them female) and they were all extremely friendly and informative. There were a lot of vets walking around. We only got to talk to one or two of them. We thanked them for their service and sacrifice, but asked few questions. I find that I just do not know what to ask them some times. *sigh*

I am SO glad that I had the opportunity to talk with these people. T and I really enjoyed it and I look forward to the next time they come around!

Today is a rough day. This is a rough week. But instead of wallowing in sorrow, I am going to savor. I am going to savor the memories I have of two people that I loved very much, who are no longer here...

Both of them would smack in the skull for doing anything less than that. :)

I came here with something to say, and now it's gone. LOL. Hate it when that happens.
I have a lot to do today. First up is a shower, and some laundry. Then food. THEN I gotta run to Kingwood to handle some things. Then back home to study! Hoping today is a great day..

Posted a note in FB, and feel silly posting it here as well. Damn you Facebook! *shakes fist*

Ok, I gotta get moving.. to my 4 readers, lol, have a GREAT DAY.. SAVOR IT.

That has been running through my mind over and over again. Last night, I went to bed feeling so much better about life. It was as if a huge weight has been taken off my shoulders.

Both of my sister's husbands are battling life threatening issues. One has cancer, the other is in end-stage liver failure. A blogger friend of mine is currently battling breast cancer (amazingly, might I add), and well, it just seems to be everywhere. My moms cousin was killed in an auto accident last week. She had gone out for a nice dinner with her husband, and some guy was texting his mother and hit them head on. J died a short while later at the hospital, her husband laid up in the hospital with a ton of horrible injuries.

The bottom line?

LIFE IS TOO SHORT to let bullshit get in the way. For once, it is going to be ALL ABOUT ME. :)

Well, not entirely. I mean, I just know what I need to focus on to get myself where I want to be, so I can be the person that I have seemingly lost.

And with that, I need to go play with my kid. :) After that, I am going for a walk to take some pictures.

I was looking for bloggers from West Virginia. I did not really find any. But I DID find this post. I had read a few of her other posts. But the one I just linked to? Made me sob, uncontrollably, to the point that I felt sick.

I am so tired of feeling sorry for myself. I am so tired of NOT LIVING. I left her a comment and thanked her for the post. I mean, it MOVED me in a way that I do not think a blog post has ever done before.

I have to run for now, go spend some time with my kid and get her fed and ready for tball.. but I plan to link to her and follow her and hope that she continues to blog. What an amazing woman...

And I have a new motto..

It is NEVER too early to start savoring.

:o)

I love taking pictures. I like capturing memories. Most of my photos are not very good, but that was never my aim. Until now. For years I have had a high-falutin' expensive camera and I never really learned to use it the way that it was meant to be used. What a shame, really.

That is going to change.

Lately, I feel life slipping from my grip. I am merely a bystander. I don't like feeling like this. I have been trying for years to lose weight. I have failed. I started school HOW long ago? And I failed. I gave up, or I was too depressed.. I had wanted to be a certain kind of parent. Am I that parent? NO.

And I am TIRED of it all.

So, it was time to give myself a good, old-fashioned attitude adjustment. I was toying with a new domain name, but have since decided against it. I shall keep this one. See, I am not sure if T and I are going to survive. I do not really want to get into that here because I am trying to keep a positive outlook going here.

All I can do is work on ME.

So, a few short term goals are in order:

Go for a walk every.single.day. And move it.. get your heart rate UP and get your blood pumping.
Drink more water.
Spend more time giving thanks and noticing the little things.
Eat 3 small meals a day with HEALTHY snacks in between.
FINISH FREAKING SCHOOL ALREADY. Gosh.
Get at least 8 hours of sleep a night.
Learn more about your cameras and take pictures EVERY.SINGLE.DAY.
Find a quiet spot and spend some time meditating.
STOP with the self-deprecating comments.
Spend 24 minutes a day doing that DVD workout you love so much.
Get back to FLY'ing with the Flylady (don't laugh..that woman has it RIGHT.)


Ok, I could keep going, but that will have to do for now.
I am putting it out there.. to hopefully hold my ass accountable.

Wish me LUCK. If my past is any indication, Ima gonna need all the luck I can get.


For some long term goals?

Get better with my camera. Some day, I would like to make money with it.
Get a JOB.
Find a gym and hire a trainer.
Garden. GARDEN GARDEN GARDEN. And canning. I wanna eat my own food instead of spending money on God-only-knows what at the store.
Try to consume less packaging. Turn off the lights, conserve energy, etc. Lessen the ol' carbon footprint.
Get my mom to move here. I miss her so much when she is gone.
Volunteer. Help make my community better. GET INVOLVED.

Now, IF I can accomplish each of these goals, I will finally feel comfortable in being who I am, for I will be what I truly want to be; a loving, giving, caring, tolerant, self-sufficient individual in every sense. I will love myself, and therefore can truly love and appreciate my surroundings.

I love my mom and my daughter more than anything in this world. They inspire me. But I am not all that I can be FOR them because I am such a mess right now. So, I figured.. if I work on me, then it will all fall into place...

Right??

*sigh*