Happy 4th of July!

So today is my favorite holiday of the year. Yes, it’s a huge cliché. Yep, I run the risk of being labeled “patriotic”, which is apparently a bad thing these days. No, I don’t really care. This isn’t about politics or race, or even American pride, so much (for me). It’s about having fun.

For me, this holiday is all about summer. It is about gathering at my sister-in-law’s house. It is about making some of my favorite homemade dishes to share. It is about pineapple sangria, music, talking and laughing, and yes – fireworks. I LOVE fireworks. Not a big fan of firecrackers, but the aerial fireworks that are done professionally (along with a few fountain type that we light in the street) are my favorite. My son Gavin was born on July 1st in 1999, and I forced my doctor to release me (I had a difficult time of it ) so that I could see the fireworks on the 4th. It was so silly (and stupid of me), but I remember sitting at our local park that night, watching the fireworks and thinking about how I hoped he’d learn to love the holiday as much as I did.  He didn’t. He hates “sharing” his birthday.

This year, it feels more like the opening day to a half-marathon for me, because I begin the day with a parade (my youngest is performing in a 4th of July parade and we had to be up at stupid o’clock to have her there on time), and then tonight I’ve got to finish packing because tomorrow I get to go pick up Amanda from the airport!!  I’m so excited I can barely stand it!  Once Wednesday arrives though, I want time to slow down.

I can’t wait to see her and head north.  I insisted she fly into LAX rather than San Francisco purely so that we could road trip together.  I’m sure there will be video along with tales from the road and so forth – so be on the lookout. I don’t know if she ever figured out Snapchat (I have to work on that myself), and maybe we can even do some sort of Facebook live thing, too).

I hope the band is ready!

Happy 4th of July to our US friends, and to those of you in the UK – happy “getting rid of us” day!  To the rest of the world, happy Tuesday!

-R