Snail Mail Happiness

I love getting mail. 

Love, Love, Love!

LOVE!

I'm sure if I love it so much; other people must as well. 

I'm horrible at sending mail.

Horrible.

Must change that.

Pronto.

I would super love it if each and every one of you reading this post (yep, even you) send me your address and birth date (kids birth dates and anniversary, too... if you have em) so I can add ya to my "brighten up yer day" mailing list. :-)  Get it in before the holidays, as I am once again going to attempt a holiday card mailing :-O. It's been about 5 years; I'm due! 

Snail Mailers Unite!

If you'd like to fill up my mail box with happiness and smiles...

285 East Oakview Lane

Oak Creek, WI 53154

Dec 15, 1979

I accept packages! ;-)

Oooh, and I finally got my hands on an iPhone (thank you sprint for now carrying the magic); and I'm totally hooked on instagram (the photo above). Follow me at melimae79 

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Armistice Day 2011

A holiday in our name is indeed an honor, as was our service itself, but “Armistice” somehow still sounds more suitable. That word refers to the end of a conflict, the end of the killing, the maiming, the destruction, the inhumanity, the erosion of civilized personal behaviors that have taken centuries to mold. While “Armistice” does not connote lasting peace, at least it does connote a chance for societies to grasp hold of themselves and, if able, to pull back from the abyss. ~Veterans For Peace

We went to our first Veterans For Peace gathering this evening. 

Couldn't have picked a better day to be part of such an amazing organization.

Today the vast majority of our country celebrates Veterans. Glorifying their duty and supporting their missions. "Thank you for your service" is even more common then "Good Morning" today. Midnight madness sales and retailers offering discounts to active duty (and sometimes retired vets) are practically a religion on this day. All the while the original intent of this day has been sorely lost along the way.  

Peace. A declaration at the end of the "war to end all wars"; Armistice day was meant to honor lives lost and opportunities gained for peace. The right to use war as an instrument of national policy was being fought; peace and justice promoted. The amount of people killed, wounded, and taken hostage in that war was astounding to the American people. Congress responded to a universal hope that such a war would never happen again by passing a resolution calling for “exercises designed to perpetuate peace through good will and mutual understanding...” Later, Congress added that November 11 was to be “a day dedicated to the cause of world peace.”

wikipedia

• U.S. President Woodrow Wilson first proclaimed Armistice Day for November 11, 1919. In proclaiming the holiday, he said...

• "To us in America, the reflections of Armistice Day will be filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country's service and with gratitude for the victory, both because of the thing from which it has freed us and because of the opportunity it has given America to show her sympathy with peace and justice in the councils of the nations."

• The United States Congress passed a concurrent resolution seven years later on June 4, 1926, requesting that President Calvin Coolidge issue another proclamation to observe November 11 with appropriate ceremonies. A Congressional Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U.S. Code, Sec. 87a) approved May 13, 1938, made the 11th of November in each year a legal holiday: "a day to be dedicated to the cause of world peace and to be thereafter celebrated and known as 'Armistice Day'."

We've strayed far, far away from what this holiday was meant to promote. In 1954 the word Armistice was replaced with the word Veteran; and it's been known as Veterans Day ever since. 

Now before you accuse me of being an unpatriotic biotech,

or a sorry excuse for a military wife (ex) ...

I think that honoring our countries veterans is a good thing, an important thing; I believe getting back to the roots of this day: Promoting peace. Abolishing the use of war as an instrument of national policy. Signing into law and making it illegal to profit from war. I believe these things honor and celebrate our nations Veterans a thousand fold over. Glorifying war and service the way our country as a whole does on 'Veterans Day' does not.

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GRAM!

me and my gram <3

My Gram came for a visit this past week!
Circumstances surrounding her impromptu visit weren't so happy (her best friend here died, so she came in for the memorial services) but we were SO excited to see her! This past week has been wonderful! Mostly just sitting around, talking, catching up, hearing old family stories, and playing games (she taught us cribbage and i'm totally a cribbage master now!) I learned a lot about our family history; hopefully enough to start genealogy tracking. It's something I've been interested in for years, but haven't really done anything about. Can't wait to get started!

We were so so SOO sad to say goodbye tonight. I wish we were all closer. If I could transplant all of my family and friends to one location; I would be such a happy girl!

I miss her so much already!

Gram Time!

   

they enjoyed having her around so much!

games!!

Reading Stories!
See Tatum? She LOVED gram, and has been so sad and confused by her leaving.

lets all snuggle

at the airport :-(

we love you, gramma!

come back soon!!!

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is there anything to rekindle

I still don't really have words to express how I feel about Nick being home; again.

Mostly because my feelings vary.

Up and Down.

Hot and Cold.

It'll take time, I'm sure, to sort through all of these emotions.

Time, though, has always been so abstract and fleeting with us.

The kids.

Oooh, the kids.

There's no uncertainty with them.

They are over the moon thrilled to have Dad back.

Such happy, forgiving, "live in the moment" little souls.

They inspire me.

We've vowed to make some extreme changes to our healing process.

He's committed to stepping away from the status quo.

I'm committed to not let fear dictate my reactions.

Works in progress; for sure.

With all the damage that has been done to our relationship,

I often wonder if there is anything left to salvage.

We went on a date night tonight. 

Trying to find that spark again.

A rekindling of something.

Anything.

grocery shopping... super romantic date, right? haa

music. sweet sweet music

dinner

there are some really awesome sidewalk etchings downtown.
this one outside of a record store we were going in to.

bowling!

totally creamed him ;-)

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flying into teenage-hood

My Son. My first born. My sweet baby boy. You are 13 today. A teenager. A freakin' teenager. Are you as surprised as I am? No, probably not. You've been waiting for this day for quite a long time now. The days, weeks, months, years couldn't move fast enough for you. For me, though... oh how I wished I could slow them down. It goes by in the blink of an eye. I remember being young and hearing all of the adults around me muttering similar phrases, and I thought they were all insane. Whacked out of their minds. Now that I'm one of those adults; I get it. It's fast. And the older I get; the faster it all goes. Ironic, really. I remember first finding out about you ... hanging over the toilet puking; pregnancy stick in hand. Such a surprise. And you continue to be full of surprises at every turn. You're strong and smart. Bold, outgoing, and fearless. You inspire me on a daily basis, and I couldn't imagine a life without you in it. I love you, Larson! Happy 13th Birthday! 

ZIPLINING! A first for each of us!
You're not the only one bringing surprises ;-)
All harnessed and ready to go

coming in for a landing

such a rush

it was beautiful

Larson and Mom racing on the last zip!

we freakin' LOVE zip lining

finishing up

We Believe!
We did a total of 6 zips. So.Much.Fun!

and of course we wrapped up the evening with some birthday cake...
homemade raw vegan pineapple cheesecake with blackberry sauce on top.
Best cake we've (i've, lol) made thus far!!!

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Halloween 2011

Monk, Barney Stinson, and Sir Vampire

with a Witch... and Satan, too. 

It's not really Halloween today.

But the area is celebrating it anyway.

If a holiday doesn't fit into your schedule.

Don't shift your schedule.

Just move the holiday.

Sounds totally reasonable, right?

Blarg!

Any-Way; trick or treating was tonight.

We opted not to go.

We don't eat the candy anyway.

And I don't need to be tempted; thankyouverymuch.

We were going to trick or treat for unicef again.

But decided not to. 

We went to get lost in a corn maze instead.

And lost we did get.

Even with color coded tape etching out the paths.

How does that happen?

And then it started to rain.

And the wind was already turbo whipping.

And then we were freezing.

We couldn't stop.

Had to find the bridge.

The bridge was so important.

I don't know why.

But it was.

Further and further into the maze.

Couldn't see over our heads anymore. 

Shivering.

Dripping wet.

All turned around.

Good Times!

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at the threshold

Larson is walking into teenage-dom in just 5 short days. I can't believe it myself; but it's happening regardless. *shrug*  To kick off this huge milestone we dropped him off at an all night skateboarding lock-in. He.Was.Thrilled!!! The title of his blog (skateboarding is my life) should tip you off to the importance of this 4 wheeled sport to him. This was his first solo over-night, so it was a very bitter-sweet moment for me ... but the excitement in his face tipped the scale slightly to the more sweet side 

:-)

Getting read to party the night away

Bye Lars; have a great time behind that door! lol

An old warehouse turned HUGE indoor skate park. So cool.

Still smiling after 11 1/2 hours on his board.

Showing off some of his new boarding skills.
He really picked up A LOT in just one night!

Working the bowl.

Back at home showing us the loot he won in a few contests.

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Late to the Party

We finally put up our Halloween decorations.
Well, the outside decorations anyway.
The inside stuff still sits in a big box.
Better late then never?
Let's get this party started...

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Detours

We were on our way to go apple picking.

Last pick of the season.

Apples almost completely harvested.

We drove over a river.

The scenery took my breath away. 

"How do we get down there".

Turn around.

Turn again. 

"Can we get there from here".

"The apple farm will close soon".

"Should we just forget this river and come back another day".

Nope.

If we don't make it to the apples, that's ok.

Life's a journey; not a destination.

Embrace life's little detours.

Nick is home. 

Another detour.

Still sorting out my feelings about it.

No words yet.

Just photos of a good day.

Trying to knock down a piece of fruit.
3rd attempt finally got it; but it was rotten.
No Bueno.

Stomping through "the jungle" to get to the river.

The jungle left me with 50 million different thorns to pick out of my clothes.
Seriously. Not an over-exaggeration. 50 million.

Up in a Tree trying to balance his Chi. 

Had to facebook a photo, of course

Trees jetting out over water beg to be climbed.

Such a peaceful spot. I could have napped out on that tree limb, lol. 

With all of the climbing, crawling, and limb balancing going on;
we had only one casualty.
Pretty good.
Rylan thought otherwise.  

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