The Great and Random Ramblings of Cannwin

The military has been a part of my life for quite a while now. In fact, it was one of the things that attracted me to Ralexwin. I'd known soldiers (my brother mostly) and I deeply admired the honor such a commitment represented. I can still remember Ralexwin coming over to my apartment dressed to the nines in his Class A's. I don't recall where he was going, but I won't forget the masculine power that emanated from him and as soon as I saw him in that uniform I was a lost woman. Not only did it appeal to my femininity, but also to my respect for those qualities of duty, courage, and honor. I saw it as being a part of something greater than self and I loved it in my future husband, but those were days of peace. My childish mind barely registered the true oaths of a soldier, and I honestly didn't really care. I was enamored with the romantic notions of being a soldier's wife. When September 11, 2001 happened Ralexwin and I had been married for less than a ye...

I love Thanksgiving. It's my favorite holiday. There's no stress over what presents to buy or how much money you're going to spend. There isn't any massive amount of decorations to put up and a tree to keep an eye on for the next month. There's no being pummeled by Santa Clause and the kids letters that will never be fulfilled. It's just simple goodness. A day when every body you care about, and sometimes mere acquaintances, get together to enjoy good food and great company. I enjoy spending the entire morning cooking and prepping the house. Then spending the afternoon eating and luxuriating. The kids all seem to know there's something special in the air and are on their best behavior. They play by themselves and wait for their favorite Thanksgiving food to be set on the table. I love nibbling on potatoes as I cut, cook and hand mash them (which is the only way to do it). I love sneaking pie-crust dough from the bowl and running away before my ha...

Great-Grandma W. with possibly your Grandma (insert married name here) Plinky Prompt: Write a note to a relative who lives 100 years in the future. To Whom It May Concern: If you are reading this I am dead. Alright, alright... if you are reading this 100 years from now then I am dead. Unless, of course, modern medicine has improved to the point that I'm not dead, in which case please shoot me. So, what is it like to live in 2010? Well, we haven't found a cure for Cancer yet. We haven't found a cure for AIDS and we haven't discovered a cure for a myriad of other diseases and ailments, but medicine is far better than it was 100 years before us. You may think it archaic, but for us we are at the peak of scientific discovery and knowledge. We are in the middle of a recession that no politician wants to admit is actually happening. Jobs are hard to come by and education is not the commodity it used to be. People are graduating with PhD's to find that they d...

I was doing some catching up on the news yesterday and came across this article (well, came across is the wrong word... my news ticker never gives me anything of value like 'bomb kills 3,000 people and leaves crater the size of Australia' that would be to easy... no my news ticker tells me that Gyllenhall and Witherspoon have broken up, because that's really important. Surprised by actual news would be more appropriate wording.) So evidently Switzerland has voted, overwhelmingly, to constitutionally ban minarets. Minarets being the spires used to call Muslims to prayer. I'm blown away by this. It makes me pretty sad and grateful I live here in this country. I was particularly disgusted with this bit of quotation. Backers said the growing Muslim population was straining the country "because Muslims don't just practice religion." Oh, terribly sorry about that. I didn't know that actually living what you believe was wrong. I didn't realize t...

In England people have some wierd names for some pretty basic things. A Water Closet (WC) is a bathroom, for instance. But they also have some words all mixed up... poor people. I feel a need to help straighten some things out for them. This: Is a scone. This: Is a really bad picture of what a biscuit is... with chicken in the middle and evidently a $2.25 way towards an early death. It is NOT a scone- see above. And this! Is called a cookie, and as you can clearly see... looks nothing like the biscuit that you keep calling it. Hope that helps. Any questions... you know where to find me. ;)