The Monotonous Miller Melodrama: What Happened to Respect for Our Veterans & Our Flag?

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

What Happened to Respect for Our Veterans & Our Flag?

Saturday, September 13th, was our Mead Community Days parade. Brock & I hurried to find a spot along the main drag to watch the parade (Lily & Alyssa were in it). The parade begins & these honorable Veterans march with our Nation's symbol of freedom - yet, only 4 people are standing up within the block I was standing, on their feet with their hand over their heart!

I get SO emotional when I see the flag, see soldiers in uniform, hear the National Anthem. I have always been patriotic, thanks to my Dad. But, after our 5 years living in Europe - not with the military - I appreciate the freedoms & what these symbols stand for with such a deeper understanding & gratitude.

When I see people with such indifference to our flag, those who have fought to preserve it & those with uneducated BIG mouths who spout their opinions under the banner of "truth" - I get physically ill! I want these people to visit Berlin, just after the wall fell - like I did. I want them to visit Czechoslovakia before it became a democracy - like I did. Where fear & uncertainty were in abundance. Where freedom was something that people only dreamt about. Yet, we have it & don't appreciate the sacrifice it has taken to give these fellow *citizens* (I have substituted for the word I really wanted to use... you are welcome!) the right to be selfish, self-absorbed, disrespectful & ungrateful!

3 years ago, I stood with my hand over my heart at the same parade. The same disgraceful & lazy behavior took place. I will never forget the small, aged Veteran that led the Color Guard... when he saw this lack of respect & disregard - he yelled, "Get on your feet! This is YOUR Flag passing by!" It still makes me choke up when I think of it.

I will never allow myself or my family to forget how blessed we are to live under the cover of the flag of the United States of America - Old Glory. Get on your feet! It is YOUR flag, too!

3 comments:

alison said...: Absolutely!! It doesn't matter if you agree with current politics or not--that flag symbolizes a lot more. I just don't think people are educated about that anymore. The history books being taught out of currently make the founding fathers seem more like the fumbling fools.; September 16, 2008 at 1:30 PM
shelly said...: Well said!; September 19, 2008 at 3:02 PM
Chris Kline said...: Go girlfriend!; September 22, 2008 at 4:49 PM

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My FAVORITE Recipes

Butternut Squash Bisque
(AWESOME when paired w/ the salad below & the homemade bread made into breadsticks/rolls!)

1/4 cup butter
2 small onion, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
2 medium carrot, chopped
4 medium potatoes, cubed
2 medium butternut squash - peeled, seeded, and cubed
2 (32 fluid ounce) containers chicken stock
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Melt the butter in a large pot, and cook the onion, celery, carrot, potatoes, and squash 5 minutes, or until lightly browned. Pour in enough of the chicken stock to cover vegetables. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, cover pot, and simmer 40 minutes, or until all vegetables are tender.
Transfer the soup to a blender, and blend until smooth. Return to pot, and mix in any remaining stock to attain desired consistency. Season with salt and pepper.

Blueberry Zucchini Bread

3 eggs, lightly beaten
1 cup vegetable oil
3 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 1/4 cups white sugar
2 cups shredded zucchini
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 pint fresh blueberries

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease 4 mini-loaf pans.
In a large bowl, beat together the eggs, oil, vanilla, and sugar. Fold in the zucchini. Beat in the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and cinnamon. Gently fold in the blueberries. Transfer to the prepared mini-loaf pans.
Bake 50 minutes in the preheated oven, or until a knife inserted in the center of a loaf comes out clean. Cool 20 minutes in pans, then turn out onto wire racks to cool completely.

My Family's New Favorite Salad

Dressing
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
2 teaspoons diced onion
1 teaspoon Dijon-style prepared mustard
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup vegetable oil
1 tablespoon poppy seeds (optional)

Salad
1 head romaine lettuce, torn into bite-size pieces
4 ounces crumbled Bleu Cheese
1 cup carmelized pecans (brown sugar carmelization)
1/4 cup dried cranberries, plums & blueberries mix (Costco)
1 apple - peeled, cored & thinly sliced
2-3 pears - peeled, cored & thinly sliced

In a blender or food processor, combine sugar, lemon juice, onion, mustard and salt. Process until well blended. With machine still running add oil in a slow steady stream until mixture is thick and smooth. Add poppy seeds and process just a few seconds more to mix.
In a small frying pan - add 2-3 Tblsp. brown sugar & set on med - med/high heat. Pour in pecans & stir constantly until well coated. Then, continue stirring until cooled - so they don't become a huge clump.
In a large serving bowl combine the romaine lettuce, bleu cheese, pecans, dried berry mix, sliced apple & sliced pear. Toss to mix then pour dressing over salad just before serving and toss to coat.

Chocolate Zucchini Bread

2 (1 ounce) squares unsweetened chocolate
3 eggs
2 cups white sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Lightly grease two 9x5 inch loaf pans. In a microwave-safe bowl, microwave chocolate until melted. Stir occasionally until chocolate is smooth.
In a large bowl, combine eggs, sugar, oil, grated zucchini, vanilla and chocolate; beat well. Stir in the flour baking soda, salt and cinnamon. Fold in the chocolate chips. Pour batter into prepared loaf pans.
Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 70 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of a loaf comes out clean.

Homemade White Bread

4 cups warm water
2 Tblsp yeast (NOT bread machine yeast)
3 Tblsp sugar (or honey)

Put in a plastic bowl until foamy (I put it in my plastic Bosch bowl - so it is a one bowl recipe). NEVER use metal spoons or bowls with yeast - It will kill it.

Then, add to the foamy mixture:
1 Tblsp salt
3 Tblsp oil
8 - 10 cups flour (all purpose)

Knead for 10 minutes (my Bosch does it all for me). Grease 4 pans. Make loaves, 'spank' out the air bubbles. Place in pans & let rise until 2 inches above the pan. (I cover to keep the warmth of the yeast activity in)
Bake at 375' for 25 minutes.

Black Bean Salsa Soup

2 (15 ounce) cans black beans, drained and rinsed
1 1/2 cups vegetable broth
1 cup chunky salsa
1 teaspoon ground cumin
4 tablespoons sour cream
2 tablespoons thinly sliced green onion

In an electric food processor or blender, combine beans, broth, salsa, and cumin. Blend until fairly smooth.
Heat the bean mixture in a saucepan over medium heat until thoroughly heated.
Ladle soup into 4 individual bowls, and top each bowl with 1 tablespoon of the sour cream and 1/2 tablespoon green onion.
Seriously - this recipe kicks the hiney of any restaurant's black bean soup! I serve with warm tortillas to dip in it.

The Brock Meister's Musings

"Mommy, ghosts are GANDER-DUST!" (Dangerous)
Brock woke up from his nap today & with a smile, burst into my room & yelled, "Thathafrath (Sassafrass) is yummy!" Nope... I don't have a clue how to interpret this!
After a Family Home Evening lesson on "Choice & Accountability" - where we discussed the Holy Ghost -- Brock quietly started to panic, "I'm SCARED! The Holy Ghost is coming! The Holy Ghost is coming & he's gonna get me!" I think we celebrate Halloween a little TOO much in our home.....
Grandpa's are a new accessory for Brock. And obviously a little hard to grasp the concept of.... As we visited Jim's parents in St. George, Brock kept pestering Grandma Miller with, "Grandma, where is your 'other one'?" & "Grandma, your 'other one' is sleeping!"
We were working with Lily on perfecting her ABC's, while Brock sat & played with his trucks on the floor near us. I sang the ABC song several times to help Lily get past the 2 areas where she inadvertantly adds 3 extra "T's" into the mix.... Finally, I thought I am breaking the Mommy Code & bribing her with a popsicle if she can do it correctly! At that point, Brock jumps up & stands 3 inches from my face & sings the song PERFECTLY to us all & asks, "Can I have a Popthicle now?".... Uhhhh, yep.
Brock makes it a point (literally) to clarify that girls have "Boobieths" & boys have "Pecths"... all of us girls get tired of the pokes & confirmations!
Out of the blue Brock tells me, "Mommy, I like Ham!" I respond, "That is good to know for Easter!" He snaps back, "Don't call me Feaster!!!"

The Wisdom Of Lily Kate

Lily: "Erika! Do your sea-monkeys sleep?" Erika: "No." Lily: "Well, they are DEAD then!"
Lily was asking me questions about the tornado that hit May 22, 2008 near us... "So, Mommy, where is that tornado now? In TornadoLand?"
After Brock hit Lily: "Mommy, can we take Brock out of all of our pictures? I want him given away! I want to sell him at a garage sale!"
I asked Lily what she learned about in preschool, she said, "We learned about jungles. And tigers that will gobble us up. But, the rest I didn't understand - they were talking it in ENGLISH!" (re: the book Ms. Sheryl read)
"Grandpa, that hat is so you can cover your Bald!" On explaining a golf hat Jim gave to him...
"Uncle Tim, I want you to call a man when you get home... his number is 4529. He is a doorknob fixer man. He will help you." After getting locked in Uncle Tim's bathroom because of a broken doorknob.
"Uncle Tim, when I get some money, I am going to buy you a doorknob & a screwdriver. Then, you can fix your door!" She is relentless...
"Look Mommy! A new firetruck! I think they got it on eBay!"

The Monotonous Miller Melodrama

Tuesday, September 16, 2008

What Happened to Respect for Our Veterans & Our Flag?

3 comments:

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