WHAT A DIFFERENCE A DAY MAKES

Remember the rolling storm clouds of Tuesday?  Look at the evening of Wednesday (same time of day).

The storm didn't last and today it was a beautiful day and an even more beautiful sunset.  This reminds me of our lives.  Even though storms come to us, God will see us through and give us a beautiful new day.

THE STORM COMETH

Back to work today.  I expected it to be really busy, but it wasn't.  Nice.

Another hot sunny day, but when I got out of work the sky looked like this:

It has started to rain, thunder and lightning.  Hopefully this will cool things off for us.  It has been brutal.

MEMORIAL DAY

Happy Memorial Day!  And thank you to all our veterans who served their country.  Hats off to you.

I began this post yesterday, but just couldn't keep my eyes open.  I turned off the computer and thought I'd better get to bed.  I just woke up and here I slept on the sofa in my clothes all night!  I hate doing that.  But at least I will try to finish my post now.

My day started out with a giant cleaning project since I was having company tonight.  But I took some time out for our annual neighborhood parade.  Got a little sunburned in the deal too.  It was very HOT!!!

The parade began with the Viet Nam Veterans on motorcycles, but I was in the house and didn't get to see it.  The second group was antique cars.

This is Joe's favorite part of the parade.  We both love seeing the old cars.

There were a couple ROTC units.  Here's one of them.

I love this decorated truck.  It's in the parade every year.

There are a lot of pictures where people have passed me.  That's because there would be a huge gap in the parade.  And then there would be a lot of things going by really fast.  Before I could get my camera to reset to take the picture, whatever I wanted to take would be gone!  It happened a lot.  I've got to either get a faster camera or get the parade to slow down.

Our state senator is up for re-election.  Think anyone could figure that out from this picture?

I kept take pictures of the kids because they were so cute!

Of course it couldn't be a parade in Philadelphia without a string band.  Here is Aqua.  They practice in our neighborhood.  They weren't wearing their costumes and I don't blame them.  Did I mention it was HOT?  About 92 degrees and they had to carry instruments and march 3 miles.

Of course there's always the boy scouts.

This group was dressed as World War I soldiers and was playing music from that era.

 

The Outboard Motor Club is always in the parade too.

 

Cinnaminson, NJ High School always sends their band to the parade.  And they are always good.

 

Here are the Viet Nam veterans.  Their memorial society is across the street from my house.

 There were lots of people selling souvenirs along the parade route.  More than I've seen any other year.

This is the float for our local Catholic elementary school, Pope John Paul II.  It will be closing at the end of this school year.  Very sad so many schools are closing.

The Philadelphia Police and Fire Pipe and Drum Corps are always a favorite.

Unlike Aqua, the Trilby String Band actually wore their costumes.  I don't know how they did it.

Of course, the American Legion was there.

And for the first time there was a Civil War reenactment group.  This was really cool to see.

The parade always ends with the appearance of our fire truck #33.

These pictures, of course, are just a small part of the parade, but I didn't want to overload you.  Maybe I did anyway, though.

 

After the parade I ran across the street to my house (yes, the parade is just one block over and I can watch it from my front window if I don't want to take pictures) and began the great clean up.  Joe and I put the air conditioner in the downstairs because there was a heat advisory and the fan just wasn't cutting it anymore.  But Joe wasn't feeling well, so I made him lay on the sofa in the cool for awhile while I cleaned.

 

I didn't think I could get so much done in one day, but I did.  There is still a lot to go, but so much better.

I had everyone come over around 5 p.m. when it would be a little cooler.  Actually, it never really did "cool" off, but at least the sun wasn't beating on us.  We were going to cook out, but it was too hot, so we cooked in and ate in the air.  So much better.  Everyone had a blast.  It was such a good time.  I had hamburgers/cheeseburgers, hot dogs, barbecued chicken, potato salad, couscous salad and lots of desserts.

 

It was also another birthday.  My friend Carol's birthday is Sunday, so Carole and I arranged to get a cake, candles and we sang to her.  She was very surprised and happy.

 

Everyone left around 9 p.m. and as I said, I went right out.  Really tired.  Now it's off to Bible Study.  We are starting a study in the book of James.  After that a whole day of work.  I'm not looking forward to that.  It's always horrible the day after a holiday.  If my foot is still hurting by tomorrow, I am going to the doctor.

SUNDAY AT MY SISTER'S

We headed up to northern New Jersey today to have a cookout with my sister.  She always has one on Memorial Day weekend.  It's a beautiful drive up there.  I love the scenery we pass.  You are really out in the country.

We couldn't believe this when we saw it.  Look at these 20 foot tall adirondack chairs.  I had to get a picture of this!

Elaine always puts a good meal on the table.  And she's good at the grill too.  She had hamburgers, cheeseburgers, hot dogs and spare ribs.

Everyone had plenty of food.  I brought my "world famous" potato salad, my brother Larry his pasta salad, my sister-in-law's mom Marilyn brought deviled eggs.  Yum!  Here is Marilyn, Frank and Joe enjoying the bounty.

My brother Larry and sister-in-law Kim.  It was good seeing them.  I haven't seen them since Christmas although I talk with them all the time.

Our friends Marion and Rich were there too.

How many people does it take to cut apart spare ribs?  Apparently three.  Ha, ha.

We had fun just sitting around and talking and letting the food digest.

Elaine took this picture of Joe and me.  It turned out really good!  It's so seldom we get a picture where we both look good.

We celebrate three birthdays at this cookout:  Elaine's friend Frank, Marion and Joe.  Elaine gave Frank a framed picture of his cocker spaniel Sydney.

Here's the cake Elaine made.

I made Joe a sugar free Dr. Pepper cake.  I got the recipe from my friend Linda over at Linda's Life Journal.   It isn't exactly like hers because I had to "de-sugar" it for Joe's diabetes.  I used sugar-free cake mix, sugar-free pudding mix and diet Dr. Pepper.  I iced it with sugar-free icing and omitted the pecans.  It turned out SO GOOD!  Oh, my goodness you would NEVER know it was sugar free -- so chocolatey and moist.  Do try this recipe.

Here are the birthday folks, blowing out their candles.

One last look goodbye and heading home.

We left a little after 8 p.m. and got home around 10:30 p.m.  Yes, it takes that long.  It didn't help that we had a detour that I got lost on and drove 12 miles out of my way and that we drove through two torrential downpours with lightning.  But at least the rain held off while we were there and we had a wonderful day.