Pride

I know I've been a complete blogger slacker lately.  The thing is, I haven't had anything much to show and tell, and any interesting thoughts that might be worth blogging go flying out of my ears as soon as I actually sit down in front of the computer.  I should start toting around a notepad during the day, because I've had some really good conversations with myself.

I actually have gotten something done I've been wanting to do for a long time, though.  I'm still missing some important people that I'm very proud of, but I can always add to it later.

The sign was a collaborative effort between myself and Pup.  I have a wood burning pen that I bought close to 13 years ago on a lark.  I used it twice, then got frustrated because I couldn't make pretty burned pictures like I'd seen at arts and crafts sales and tossed it in a box.  Naturally, I quickly forgot about it with the ease of youth.  I found it in said box while I was trying very hard to bring some more order to my chaos, and while glaring at a pile of B's wood scraps as if I could incinerate them with a thought or magically make them produce something useful, got an idea.  So I spent a few hours burning letters into a scrap end of a 2x4.  I was very unhappy with the result.  It looked naked, and sloppy, and not at all the pretty sign I'd imagined.

Pup to the rescue.  I was grousing about how I didn't like it, it's sloppy, it's bald, it's boring... He took it from me, went into our little storage shed to get out of the wind, and proceeded to scorch the entire face of the sign.  It was covered with a thin layer of dark soot, and looked way better.  All my little mess ups were happily hidden under black powder.  Black powder that dusted off on everything!  So, I started rubbing the powder in, and tada!  Happiness.  We started talking about borders, and he trotted next door to Fin's and borrowed her hot glue gun.  He spent forever twisting some hemp string into ropes and tacking them around the edges with the hot glue.

I need one of Pup's pictures, and I'd love a picture of Mrs. Terri's Sam.  I need to find a frame for my great-granddad's picture.  There are lots of other people in my family whose pictures I'd like to hang on here as well, but I can always put more pictures up :-)

starting at the top and going clockwise - B; my brother; B's Brother; my cousin; my daddy; my uncle; my granddad's retirement declaration; my granddad, gramma, and dad; and the little circle is another cousin.

The picture on the left by itself if my granddad kneeling in front of one of the last flying B-17's, which is what he flew on in WWII as a belly ball gunner.

I'm very proud of all the heroes in my life, and they have earned the right to be proud of themselves.


One other project I finished:

I saw a sign similar to this (only much more neatly executed) on one of those military pride home decor sites.  They wanted $16 for it, and I'm thinking there's a stack of unused wood scraps sitting in the back yard, some paint a guy gave us when he PCS-ed, and a ball of hemp twine I've had forever.

B retired his old PC, and I asked him if he had to turn it in or anything.  He said no, so I asked if I could have it.  I'm going to cut it up and make a ACU digital border for this so it's a little less desert drab lol.  It's hanging on the door to the basement.  I generally just throw laundry down the stairs and wash it when the pile is large enough for a load or two.  Not exactly neat, but at least it's consolidated and out of sight :-P