What is today?

Of course, it is Women's Equality Day!

Ninety years after the ratification of the 19th Amendment giving women the right to vote, we still earn 77 cents to every one dollar that a man makes.  Crazy.

Let's keep fighting the good fight.  Let's celebrate how far we've come.  Yay for everyone that believes in equality!

4th of July - delayed posting

We had a fun and relaxed 4th of July.  Gant was in town, and so we kind of celebrated his birthday since he won't be here on the actual day later this month...

It was a plenty warm day.  But the sky was blue and full of fluffy, photogenic clouds.  We had probably 7 cameras among the 8 of us....  so we snapped and snapped away!

 
We just kept snapping.  And posing.  You never know when you are going to get that phenomenal picture.  You don't!  So we kept trying....

And here were the wonderful red velvet cupcakes, made specially for the occasion by Cups, LLC.

And it just wouldn't have been the Fourth of July without some sparklers and a few fireworks! 

And we had a very patriotic and festive Fourth of July, 2010!

Really?

I was there.  All evening.  I didn't miss any part of it.  I didn't think.

Well, apparently I missed this.  Yes, folks, that is a blow torch.  Once again, I have stated that I am married to a farmer.  So it doesn't surprise me to find that we OWN a blow torch.  It DOES, however, surprise me to find that we were using it last night to light some of our fireworks.  I took this picture this morning.  That's when the discovery was made.

We had guests last night.  Guests who hadn't previously been around a lot of fireworks.  I am sure this impressed the you-know-what out of them.

Me:      Is that a blow torch on the back porch?
Mike:   Yes.
Me:      Why is it back there?
Mike:   Because we were using it last night to light those sparklers.

This is where I quit talking and start the inner conversation.  "Sparklers?  Are you kidding me?  Since when do sparklers have to be lit with a blow torch?  And where was I when all this was going on?"

Thankfully, no one was injured, burned, or otherwise maimed.  That I am aware of.  Of course, people don't always tell me these things.  I just learned this July 4th of a scar that sweet Lesley received LAST July 4th on her foot during some skateboarding accident.  Learning about it a YEAR after it occurred!  Another fine example of how Mom isn't always kept abreast of all details at all times.

Maybe it is for the best.  Maybe.