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Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 
And never brought to mind? 
Should auld acquaintance be forgot, 
And auld lang syne? 

Chorus.-For auld lang syne, my dear, 
For auld lang syne. 
We'll take a cup o' kindness yet, 
For auld lang syne.  

I hope you all have a wonderful New Year! God bless you!

Today is Flag Day, the date which honors the adoption of the "Stars and Stripes" as our nation's flag.

"Resolved that the flag of the thirteen United States be Thirteen stripes alternate red and white: that the union be thirteen stars, white in a blue field, representing a new constellation."

 - Continental Congress

June 14, 1777

You might commemorate the occassion by flying your own flag, reciting the Pledge of Allegiance, singing the National Anthem, seeing how our flag has changed in 233 years, and learning the Flag Code.

You might also enjoy some Flag Day crafts and activities.

Two interesting Flag Day websites are USFlag.org and National Flag Day Foundation.

Don't forget to read this article about President Obama's Flag Day proclamation. As has been customary through the years, this entire week has been declared National Flag Week. In his proclamation, Obama urges Americans to fly Old Glory and publicly pledge allegiance to the flag, from today until Independence Day, as a celebration of our national heritage. A very good idea and one that was put forth by another recent President. 

Wow, today is simply packed with significance.

It's Patriot's Day.

Concord Hymn

By the rude bridge that arched the flood,
Their flag to April's breeze unfurled,
Here once the embattled farmers stood,
And fired the shot heard round the world.

The foe long since in silence slept;
Alike the conqueror silent sleeps;
And Time the ruined bridge has swept
Down the dark stream which seaward creeps.

On this green bank, by this soft stream,
We set to-day a votive stone;
That memory may their deed redeem,
When, like our sires, our sons are gone.

Spirit, that made those heroes dare,
To die, and leave their children free,
Bid Time and Nature gently spare
The shaft we raise to them and thee.

Ralph Waldo Emerson

It's fifteen years since the OKC bombing:

It's the anniversary of Israel's re-birth:

And the "new" Pope marked the fifth anniversary since his election.

What a day filled with sadness and celebration!

I'm home this Easter morning. A family member has come down again with the Spring Plague that is going around.  I'm home and there are so many other places I wish I was.

I wish I was in church. I wish we had a church. I wish I wasn't in constant pain. I wish I didn't have to take medicines that cloud my faculties. I wish I was not so impatient. I wish I didn't cry at the drop of a hat. I wish I could spend just one day healthy.

I wonder if Christ had wishes, that night in the garden, the night he sweated blood.

How much did he know about what was to come?

Did he know just how much he was going to suffer? Was it the pain of torture that hurt him so or the betrayals and abandonment? Which was worse: the nails or the broken heart?

I don't know, but I do know that when he exclaimed, "It is finished," on the cross that it wasn't. It was far from finished.

The story didn't end on the cross, in the darkness, in the midst of a coming storm. It looked like the end, but things are seldom as they appear.

And as much as we are persuaded that the story ends with sunrise services, with frilly dresses, with fancy brunches, with pastel eggs, with fluffy bunnies, that is not the end either.

The end has already been revealed; it is no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. The end is no more pain.

Today is not the end; it is the remembrance of things past, the celebration of things to come. Today is the reminder of Christ's promise to those who take up the cross and follow him.

Our story doesn't end alone in the dark; it ends with jubilee. 

Matthew 21

The Triumphal Entry

Fess Parker, who played Davy Crockett, Daniel Boone, and the father in "Old Yeller" has passed away. We knew him best as Davy Crockett in the vintage Disney series, which is reputed to be the first miniseries in the history of television.

In honor of Mr. Parker, here's "The Ballad of Davy Crockett"

For your St. Patrick's Day dinner, here are my favorite recipes for this day:

Colcannon

2 tsp. vegetable oil
3 tsp. butter, divided
1 leek, halved and cut in 1/2 inch strips
1 onion, halved and cut in 1/2 inch strips
8 red potatoes, baked
15oz. beef broth
salt and pepper
1 green cabbage, quartered, cored, and cut in 3/4 inch strips

1.  Heat oil & 1 tsp. butter on medium.
2.  Saute leek 7 onion until they start to brown.
3.  Add half the cabbage, stirring and turning until coated with oil and wilted.
4.  Continue adding cabbage and stirring one hand full at a time until wilted.
5.  Pour in half of broth and bring to a boil. Simmer until cabbage absorbs broth. Add remaining broth. Cook until cabbage is soft.
6.  Slice baked potatoes and add to cabbage.
7.  Add shredded or sliced corned beef.
8.  Salt and pepper. Add remaining butter.

Irish Soda Bread (from Martha Stewart)

3 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting
1 cup whole-wheat graham flour
2 1/2 teaspoons coarse salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
4 tablespoons cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1 2/3 cups buttermilk

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Whisk together the flours, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in a large bowl. With a pastry blender or your fingertips, blend in butter until it resembles small peas. Add buttermilk all at once; stir with a fork until mixture holds together.
2. In the bowl, pat the dough into a domeshaped loaf about 7 inches in diameter. Lift out dough; transfer to lined sheet.
3. Lightly dust top of loaf with flour. Cut a 3/4-inch-deep cross in top, reaching almost all the way to edges. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until deep golden brown and a cake tester inserted into the center comes out clean, about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Let cool on a wire rack.

Have you received your 2010 Census Form? Be sure to fill it out and send it back. Census records have always been an important part of genealogy and I want my descendents to be able to look me up in 72 years.

At my house, we have 2 White Puerto Rican guys, 1 White Puerto Rican girl, and 1 plain ol' White girl. In truth, we're a bunch of ethnic mutts here at my house - something we're proud of but something the census, unfortunately, does not capture.

So, here's my Census 2010 addendum:

1 male Spanish/French/Basque/African or Puerto Rican Indian

and

1 female Irish/Scottish/English/German?/American Indian

married with a boy and a girl

The census asks what color our skin is but I think the bigger question is whether America is a melting pot or salad bowl. I was taught by a teacher in high school that we are a salad bowl, but I am sure now that America is a melting pot. Why else would my little Puerto Ricans eat Colcannon on St. Patrick's Day?

As of July 1, 2010, all Puerto Rican birth certificates will be invalid. This is because of a law enacted by the government of Puerto Rico last December.

It seems it was a common practice for Puerto Rican schools to retain a child's birth certificate while the child was in attendance at the school. Some criminal groups saw those unguarded collections of birth certificates as a way to easily provide illegal Hispanics with American birth certificates, as all Puerto Ricans are born Americans. After many schools were robbed, the government of Puerto Rico decided invalidating all birth certificates and issuing new ones was the only way to prevent fraud.

The new birth certificates will not be available until July 1, 2010 and will cost $5. The fee will be waived for those over the age of 60 or for veterans.

Those living outside Puerto Rico (as does my husband) will need to write the Puerto Rico Office of Vital Statistics on or after July 1, 2010 to request a new, state-of-the-art birth certificate. 

More details are available in this PDF from the Puerto Rico Federal Affairs Administration.

Because it is the 200th birthday of Frederic Chopin, a free album of his music is available for download from Amazon.

Free - I like the sound of that. And isn't that cast of Chopin's hand really creepy? But not near as creepy as what happened to Chopin's heart. Click on his name to find out what it was.