A New Birth Of Freedom...

Today was a day of history.

No matter which party you belong to, no matter which candidate you voted for this was a day of history for ALL Americans. Today our 44th President of the United States was sworn in.


He may not have been the candidate we voted for but he is now our President. I'm hoping that he can make those changes he has been talking about for all of us as Americans. He's got a BIG job ahead of him!


I've been around for a lot of inaugurations and I can't think of any other that drew me to watch it more than this one. I'm not sure what it was, or maybe it's just because of the problems our country is facing at the moment but I have watched it for hours, listening to his inaugural address and listening to what he said at each of the balls he and the First Lady attended. It would have been awesome to have been in Washington along with the millions of others! Guess I'm really glad that I was inside, in a warm and comfy house when I watched the inauguration instead of being in the 30 degree weather!


Some interesting facts that I found at "http://inaugural.senate.gov/" (Joint Congressional Committee on Inaugural Ceremonies website) was this was not the best inauguration day in history nor was it the worst! It sure wasn't the shortest either! Did you know that you can even get the recipes from todays luncheon? Same website! To get tickets to the luncheon you had to contribute a LOT of money to Obama's campaign. You can see just how much we contributed since we were at home in Greers Ferry! Not all the inaugurations have been held at the State Capitol, some by necessity. This was the 56th quadrennial Presidential Inauguration (I'm assuming that quadrennial means something like every 4 years)!


I didn't find it at the same website, but did you know that there is even a "Presidential Barrel" of Jack Daniels? Just a bit of trivia for you!


"A New Birth of Freedom" commemorates the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln's birth. The words, echoing across 200 years from Abraham Lincoln's Gettysburg address, express Lincoln's hope that the sacrifice of those who died to
preserve the United States would lead to "a new birth of freedom" for the nation. President Lincoln was invited as the second speaker to give "a few appropriate remarks" at the dedication of the Soldier's National Cemetery in Gettysburg, Pennsylvania on Thurs., Nov. 19, 1863. His speech, now known as The Gettysburg Address and considered to be one of the most quoted speeches in U.S. history, contained only 10 sentences and 272 words. Although two phrases from this short speech, "four score and seven years ago..." and "...government of the people, by the people, and for the people...", are more widely recognized, the lesser recognized "this nation shall have a new birth of freedom" is the cornerstone for the 2009 Inaugural theme.


This day has been a day of history and a day, for me, filled with pride that I am an American and proud of my country! I am thankful that I live in such a grand country and I have so many freedoms. I am also thankful for all the men and women that keep this country safe!

God Bless America!

Out with the Old, In with the New...

Year that is! Happy New Year 2009! May 2009 bring you health, happiness and prosperity!

Don and I are looking forward to sharing the new year with lots of family and friends, either while traveling or in our new house in Greers Ferry! For those of you who haven't been here yet we look forward to sharing it with you! It's been a long, long road and we are glad to have reached the end of it! :-)

We were able to celebrate the new year with a small party here at the house! I'm not sure why I didn't have the camera out, but I didn't! Of course there was lots of great food and I think everyone had fun playing shuffleboard, pool and pinball! I know there was also a football game on, but I don't think it was much of a game...unless you were a Louisiana (is that the team that was playing?) fan!

I've been *busy* procrastinating on an update from September 2008 until December 2008, so maybe if I procrastinate long enough no one will be interested in what was going on in that time! :-) O.K., O.K. I'll work some more on it...I actually have it about 1/2 done! :-) In the mean time...

Happy New Year! Hope 2009 is everything you wish for!