Photo post # 5 (That's it for tonight) Pinic with the Pops

Fireworks!

More fireworks!

What a patriot. (Snicker - he wouldn't even say the "Pledge of Allegiance" in kindergarten!)

Nature threatened her own fireworks, but held off.

Getting dirty with a foam pickle. Later I wondered how many filthy hands had touched that nasty thing and felt practically sick about actually letting it touch my lips!

Emily will be mad at me if she reads this post and sees this.

Same thing about the germs with the foam hamburger. I must have been temporarily insane.

Yep - there he is! Still cute.

See - Michael was smart. I don't think he actually let the foam cheese touch his lips and he is the one who doesn't care about germs AT ALL. He thinks we should eat more dirt to build immunities!

Scott, Emily's boyfriend.

This is a local event called "Picnic With the Pops" The BSO plays show tunes, jazz classics, etc. The Singing Hoosiers sang. There was swing dancing... also some patriotic stuff. They end with "The Stars and Stripes Forever" and "The 1812 Overture" then go into the fireworks. When they first started they made it on 4th of July, but it upset the American Legion because then far fewer people attended their fireworks. Now they do it a week or two before to keep everybody happy. My company is a major sponsor so we got free tickets at tables which are normally $25 each - each SEAT, not each TABLE! If you're not rich enough to get a seat you STILL have to pay $5 per person just to come in and sit on your own blanket where you can't see any of the show until the fireworks. In a way, I think it's kind of a rip-off, sucky event. I have only gone the years we have been able to get free tickets. I don't even know who the money goes to - maybe it's a fund raiser for the symphony, which I SHOULD really support. We know many who play in the BSO AND they gave Emily a wonderful, amazing violin to use through high school so she didn't have to play a cheap rental.

It was a good night. I was really happy Scott and Emily were able to come down. They hadn't made it to Michael's Open House because Scott was on "storm call." I guess there are drawbacks to working for the electric company, even though it pays big bucks. Even when they came last weekend I guess there were still 90,000 people in Chicago without power so they almost didn't get to come. Silly midwest storms. Silly people who think fallen live electrical wires are problems! How dare they interfere with my family life?!

Well that's the end. I've been sitting here doing this forever. My tummy hasn't reacted badly to the food I ate so I may try a little more and then go to bed. I want to lose weight, but NOT because i eat food and it doesn't stay in! i want to eat the right amounts of the right kinds of food and have it make me STRONG! GGGrrrooowwwwllll.

Good night!