Friday Five - Fireworks Edition

On the RevGalBlogPals Friday Five, Sally has this to say:

I have to admit that I am chuckling to myself a little; how strange it seems for me a Brit to be posting the Friday Five on 4th July! I realise that most of our revgals will be celebrating in some way today, but I hope that you can make a little room for Friday Five! From my short stay in Texas my memories of the celebrations are of fireworks and picnics, one year we went in to central Houston to watch the fireworks and hear the Symphony Orchestra play, we were welcomed and included, and that meant a lot!

So lets have a bit of fun:

1. Barbeque's or picnics ( or are they essentially the same thing?) Barbeque to me always means staying put- our house or someone else's. Picnics are for the park or in a family twist- a blanket on the living room floor eating pizza. The only exception is when we were kids. My parents would take us to the community pool and send us off to swim. While we were in the pool they would heat up the little hibachi grill they had brought along. Then it was hot dogs or burgers after our swim.

2. The park/ the lake/ the beach or staying at home simply being? The Bug Man and Soda Chicky feel that if it's a summer holiday then we need to have ribs. Ribs means babysitting them for four to six hours while they slow roast in the oven before grilling them outside. A spice rub, basting with pineapple juice and a great sauce at the end. Yummy, messy, good eating!

3. Fireworks- love 'em or hate 'em? Love the fireworks. Hate the crowds, the sweaty heat and the bugs. There are enough local fireworks that we frequently sit in the yard and watch from afar.

4. Parades- have you ever taken part- share a memory... In my first parish in little town Missouri, our church took part in the local Memorial Day parade. We decorated a hay wagon with a large red bow and huge gift tag. On the float were our Sunday School kids in the Christmas program outfits. The gift of Jesus and his love were our entry in the parade.

5. Time for a musical interlude- if you could sum up holidays in a piece of music what would it be? No specifics but it is always fun to hear a brass band- often a military one- playing great marches for the holidays.

When I was a kid we weren't allowed to set off fireworks at home. Papa Joe saw a friend get seriously hurt when he was a kid, so he made sure his own kids were kept at a distance from such things. As an adult I visited friends in Southern California who had to stay home over the fourth in case their homes were hit by stray sparks. With wood shingles, there was a great risk of fire. I love the fireworks show, but here is hoping you and yours have a Fourth that's safe as well as fun!

Are you addicted to Facebook?

In April, Baby Sister double dog dared me to get a Facebook account. Actually, she said that if I didn't sign up she would do it for me. What choice did I have?

So now I have a Facebook account. If you know my real name you can find me pretty easily. I mostly wanted to join up so that I could play Scrabulous. I love Scrabble. And now I can play Scrabble with Songbird, Baby Sister and other online friends.

But I also find that I want to know what's going on with my community. My workspace is in the basement of our building. Things happen above ground and sometimes I miss things. Now I know stuff that I don't even need to know. It's a strange lurking kind of thing. And yet it's not.

Soda Chicky has a Facebook account. I can look at the pictures she posts from various parties and field trips. A couple of her friends have also "friended" me. One of her friends thinks it is too, too strange that I have Facebook. But the Chick and I have agreed that there is nothing creepy about all of this and we feel comfortable with seeing what the other one is up to.

I have had chats with kids who used to be in my youth group and are now grown up. I caught up with a friend from high school and two of Baby Sister's old boyfriends. (They found me, not the other way around.)

And then there's Flair. It's an addictive thing. How much Flair can you send? How much Flair do you get? Do you make your own Flair for special occasions?

And that Lil' Green thing. How can sending an email really help the environment? I think it might be a scam and yet people keep sending me these pretend plants. I'm totally confused about that one.

So I am trying not to become too addicted to Facebook and yet...

Why do they yell from the other room?

I love my teenager. Really I do. But why is it that she is forever trying to tell me something when she is down the hall in another room. Say... the bathroom. Not only are there walls between us but it's summer and the air conditioner is making its own little strange noises. And the room where she is... the one with the running water... is also the room where the dryer is spinning and the washer is running.

Unless I develop some kind of super sonic hearing, I am never going to hear her. And then when she comes into the room where I CAN hear her, she over enunciates because clearly the reason I couldn't understand her before was because she was talking to quickly. Did I do this when I was fifteen? If I did, my mother should have given me a smack. I haven't smacked my kid, but it is times like this that make me think, "What is the deal with this girl?"

Sigh... Okay, I love my teenager. She helped me with my sermon on Saturday night and even gave Cheesehead a hook for her sermon.

She refuses to leave early for our combination work trip/vacation to the far northern state because she wants to go to the going away party for a member of my staff. She knows that there will be nothing there that she wants to eat. (Ooh! Boiled seafood! I'll eat before we go!) But she is determined that she be there for the Tinman's fond farewell. Gotta love it!

So that's what's happening at my house tonight. I just wanted to grouse. Thanks for listening.