Thanksgiving reminds me...

Of my grandmothers most of all. I miss them on this day most of all. Grama Lillie would have ten worlds of holiday stuff laid out for us and everybody brought something so good--especially at her house on Skyline. She would have this enormous table made up downstairs in the store room and the huge table for the adults and the little card tables set up for all of us children- I usually sat at Grampa's huge bar though in front of that clipper ship. Red Cabbage, dressing, Ham, Turkey, Every kind of potatos, sweet & marshmallowey and tons of Jello only for me :o) and every kind of Pie imaginable. Like 15 pies. Im so lucky to come from a huge family we had the best of times. Playing cards all afternoon canasta, rummy, spades, watching old John Wayne stuff and tarzan. The best part was when we all held hands - like 40 of us- and grama said the prayer and told the old bastard to get down in his hole.. Lill, shut those gd kids up- haha. What a wild bunch. Im most grateful for those days. I truly thought my grampa Gene was the devil when I was a little girl. Jeez!

And then Grama Evelyn, she was born on Thanksgiving day. I remember the year when Uncle Pat was still with us, they all went out hunting and brought back quail and pheasant and rabbit. We had that in addition to the regular Thanksgiving table. She always made waldorf salad and blueberry salad and cherry pie especially for me. She taught me how to be a lady, and being wealthy has absolutely nothing to do with being refined. And Grampa with his non stop happy hour and whiskey & ice clinking in the glass. Aunt Joann always made cranberry salad and everything smelled like heaven just walking in the door. And that little light up tummy sailor that sat on the bar forever. Those little things, the little details are what stand out and make me smile. They all knew how much they meant to me, they knew how much they were loved and for that im most grateful today. Miss you so much but im smiling because in my heart you are still right here.

HE'S COMING TO KANSAS CITY BABY!

I CANNOT WAIT!! I LOVE NEIL DIAMOND!!

and he's going to sing all my favorite songs all night long for me and my mom Yeah!! Woohoo!
I remember us singing Holly Holy up on the stage platform in the freezing cold winter of 1995 in the city park before they put that old time bannister up. We had the stereo up cranked with the headlights bright on the stage and jumped out and sang like some idiots. I love my mom!

My favorites are everything I have the double live world tour, hot august night one AND two, nd classic, neil diamond christmas cd, neil diamond 12 songs, neil diamond three chord opera, neil diamond classics, neil diamond double live greatest hits, and best of neil diamond. Now if he would sing ozark mountain daredevils take you tonight for me I would just die and go to heaven right now! He's the greatest!

~Holly Holy is my very very favorite and gives me shivers, America remind me of my grama thomi at 18 yrs old coming here all by herself to a new life, Play Me love that song, I am I said makes me cry, Cracklin Rosie make me smile, Forever in Blue Jeans is so fun to sing way up loud, Song sung blue cheers me up every time, Kentucky Woman reminds me of my mom, Stones is about waiting for something right and being patient, And the grass won't pay no mind I just flat out love that song! What I love the most about all his music is no matter what's going on he will pick you up so you feel alive and set you straight even if just for a little while and make it all better. Who couldn't love Neil Diamond! And I have the Jazz Singer. Not a great movie but it brings to life the meaning to the lyrics "America". Very very cool!

Veteran's Day 11/11/05

What Is A Veteran?
(Marine Corp chaplain, Father Denis Edward O'Brian)

Some veterans bear visible signs of their service: a missing limb, a jagged scar, a certain look in the eye. Others may carry the evidence inside them, a pin holding a bone together, a piece of shrapnel in the leg - or perhaps another sort of inner steel: the soul's ally forged in the refinery of adversity.

Except in parades, however, the men and women who have kept America safe wear no badge or emblem. You can't tell a vet just by looking.

What is a vet? A vet is the cop on the beat who spent six months in Saudi Arabia sweating two gallons a day making sure the armored personnel carriers didn't run out of fuel.

A vet is the bar room loudmouth, dumber than five wooden planks, whose overgrown frat-boy behavior is outweighed a hundred times in the cosmic scales by four hours of exquisite bravery near the 38thParallel.

A vet is the nurse who fought against futility and went to sleep sobbing every night for two solid years in Da Nang.

A vet is the POW who went away one person and came back another - or didn't come back at all.

A vet is the drill instructor who has never seen combat - but has saved countless lives by turning slouchy, no-account punks and gang members into marines, airmen, sailors, soldiers and coast guardsmen, and teaching them to watch each other's backs.

A vet is the parade-riding Legionnaire who pins on his ribbons and medals with a prosthetic hand.

A vet is the career quartermaster who watches the ribbons and medals pass him by.

A vet is the three anonymous heroes in The Tomb Of The Unknowns, whose presence at the Arlington National Cemetery must forever preserve the memory of all the anonymous heroes whose valor dies unrecognized with them on the battlefield or in the ocean's sunless deep.

A vet is the old guy bagging groceries at the supermarket - palsied now and aggravatingly slow - who helped liberate a Nazi death camp and who wishes all day long that his wife were still alive to hold him when the nightmares come.

A vet is an ordinary and yet extraordinary human being, a person who offered some of his life's most vital years in the service of his country, and who sacrificed his ambitions so others would not have to sacrifice theirs.

A vet is a soldier and a savior and a sword against the darkness, and he is nothing more that the finest, greatest testimony on behalf of the finest, greatest nation ever known.

So remember, each time you see someone who has served our country, just lean over and say, "Thank You."

That's all most people need, and in most cases it will mean more than any medals they
could have been awarded or were awarded.

Again, two little words that mean a lot to any Veteran-- "THANK YOU."

Addendum -- John 15:13 (KJV) "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
[ Father Denis Edward O'Brian -- from Thomas S.Ellsworth ]

My baby boyz 2005 Football

Jordy 2005 7th Gr
Austin 2005

Look who's comin to town!

I love love love love love love him!

Written by: neil diamondHolly holy eyesDream of only youWhere I am, what I amWhat I believe inHolly holyHolly holy dreamWanting only youAnd she comesAnd I run just like the wind willHolly holySing a songSing a song of songsSing it outSing it strongCall the sun in the dead of the nightAnd the sun’s gonna rise in the skyTouch a man who can’t walk uprightAnd the lame man, he’s gonna flyAnd I flyAnd I flyHolly holy loveTake the lonely childAnd the seedLet it be filled with tomorrowHolly holySing a songSing a song of songsSing it outSing it strongCall the sun in the dead of the nightAnd the sun’s gonna rise in the skyTouch a man who can’t walk uprightAnd the lame man, he’s gonna flyAnd I flyAnd I flyHolly holy dreamDream of only youHolly holy loveHolly holy love

StonesStones would play inside her headAnd where she slept,They made her bedAnd she would acheFor love and get but stonesLa la la la la la la la laLordy, childA good day’s comin’And I’ll be there to let the sun inAnd bein’ lostIs worth the comin’ homeLa la la la la la la la la on stonesYou and me, a time for plantingYou and me, a harvest grantingThe every prayer ever prayedFor just two wild flowers that growLa la la la la la la la la on stonesMmmmmmmm.....

Written by: neil diamond and richard bennetMoney talksBut it don’t sing and danceAnd it don’t talkAs long as I can have you here with meI’d much rather beForever in blue jeansHoney is sweetBut it ain’t nothing next to baby’s treatAnd if you’ll pardon meI’d like to sayWe’ll do okayForever in blue jeansMaybe tonightMaybe tonight by the fireAll alone you and iNothing around but the soundOf my heart and your sighsMoney talksBut it don’t sing and danceAnd it can’t walkAs long as I can have you here with meI’d much rather beForever in blue jeansAnd honey is sweetBut it ain’t nothing next to baby’s treatAnd if you’ll pardon meI’d like to sayWe’ll do okayForever in blue jeansMaybe tonightMaybe tonight by the fireAll alone you and iNothing around but the soundOf my heart and your sighs


Written by: neil diamondShe was morningAnd I was night timeI one day woke upTo find her lyingBeside my bedI softly saidCome take meFor I’ve been lonelyIn need of someoneAs though I’d doneSomeone wrong somewhereI don’t know whereCome latelyYou are the sunI am the moonYou are the wordsI am the tunePlay meSong she sang to meSong she brang to meWords that rang in meRhyme that sprang from meWarmed the nightAnd what was rightBecame meYou are the sunI am the moonYou are the wordsI am the tunePlay meAnd so it wasThat I came to travelUpon the roadThat was thorned and narrowAnother placeAnother graceWould save meYou are the sunI am the moonYou are the wordsI am the tunePlay me