Saturteen Night Live

We had a great day yesterday. Spent the bigger part of the day enjoying the patio until the wind started blowing the nasty tree pollen. I sneezed at least 8 times in a row. Time to get the allergy meds going.

We spent the evening with the folks at McGuigan Arts Academy. The teen students had a week of spring break classes on improv, comedy, sketches, and putting their own show together.

There were some of the same characters and performers as last time. They have honed their craft in the last year. The students wrote their own material and performed with reckless abandon. They’re so creative with the scripts, dialogue, and costumes. They are so comfortable performing. It just amazes me! If you need a place for your kids to get acquainted with the Arts, McGuigan Arts Academy is the place for you. Check them out and register soon! Your kids will thank you for it: https://www.mcguiganartsacademy.com

Today is the last day of April. Have you accomplished all you wanted to? I’m close, but the news of Mom’s cancer diagnosis has added a lot of time to the calendar. We’re on the downward slide towards the end of treatment. 11 more treatments, then we shall see what she needs after that.

Today, I’m devoting some time to setting myself up for 30 minutes of writing daily during the month of May. We’ll talk about that tomorrow, and dig in again Monday. Hope you have a great Sunday, and you enjoy a day of rest in your favorite way. Be safe. See you tomorrow.

Summer Saturday

This is adding up to be a great summer Saturday. The weather gods have cooperated with some outdoor events we’re part of for the weekend.

Today, friends from Moving Veterans Forward are having a Poker Run with Defiance Harley Davidson. There will be friends there from Guitars for Vets, singing from 2 – 5. Check the FB pages for these folks or the VFW Post 2503 and check hours, locations, etc. The header photo is the poster for today’s event.

Tonight, the Babe and I are going to Glenwood, Iowa for an outdoor concert with Billy McGuigan and his band. Even though the event is outdoors, the Amphitheater is beautiful, shady, and much cooler temperature wise than you would think. The music is always top-shelf, and we’ll have a great time. Every time we see them, we cannot believe how much better they continue to be. How can you improve on perfection? Dang, if they don’t do it every time!

The thing I always think of is they didn’t just wake up one day and achieve this level of awesomeness. It has taken years and years of practice. And it shows. They are still humble people, and grateful to their audiences. It does my heart good. Music saves my sould, over and over.

Tomorrow morning, the VFW Post 2503 has a breakfast from 8 – 11 a.m., then at Noon, they are having a Car Show. They are always great fun, and free. Bring the kids and check out the cool cars, motorcycles, and trucks. The awards will be at 3 p.m. Great family fun all day. Proceeds go to our friends at 50 Mile March. They’ll be present to visit with you about their mission, training, and goals.

Recently, on a local news broadcast, there was a story about VFW’s in Nebraska closing down. The story sounded as if all VFW Posts were closing down. It has caused a lot of concern with a lot of people. I even had a call from a cousin from Western Nebraska who read the story. Lots of upset all over the place.

I feel strongly about accuracy in stories, blogs, and especially the news. I commented on the FB posting of the story that the reporter should come to our post and see how vital and busy it is. I suppose it won’t be done, the story will not be amended, and lots of people will not know the truth. I find that sad.

Even fiction authors need to do research. Sometimes, that takes longer than writing the manuscript. You cannot put incomplete information out there, it leads to all sorts of problems.

Write it right, for heaven’s sake! (Kathy Raabe)

I’ve got some things to take care of before the Babe gets home from the two funerals he and the Honor Guard conducted honors for this morning. Another thing, our VFW Post 2503 has the busiest Honor Guard detail in the state. It’s not unusual for them to have two or three funerals a day. There is a lot more to our story!

Have a beautiful day today, friends. Help me get to 1,000 followers by following me at this blog site. We are holding at 929. Let’s shoot for 1,000! Need your help on this one! Can’t do it without you! Thank you, and we’ll see you tomorrow.

2200 and DONE!

I just completed something that one year ago, I would have told you there was no way I could fathom doing. I read a lot on Facebook about our Veterans, the 22 a day who commit suicide, and how we can help those who ask for it. Because of that, I’ve become a volunteer at our VFW Post 2503, @ 90th & Military Ave in Omaha, NE. The Babe is the Quartermaster for the organization, and I belong to the Auxiliary, serving as a Trustee. Check their website, activities, and events for the month of August. Busy place, doing good for the community. We’d love to have you stop by!

So in addition to this, we’ve established relationships with Moving Veterans Forward, Nebraska; Nebraska COPS, and Guitars for Vets. We support all three, and are proud to be a part of it. Great causes, all of them. Personally, I joined a July Challenge on Facebook, to do 2200 Squats during the month of July. That means 71 a day. Unlike the photo in the header, I couldn’t do a push up to save my soul. Some folks prefer 22 push ups a day.

Being in my very late sixties, I can’t do the kind the kids are doing; squatting while hanging upside down like a bat in it’s cave; squatting while holding a 75 lb iron weight; squatting while holding a human sideways. You get what I’m saying.

The kind I can do are holding onto a countertop height sink, and doing them without hurting knees, back, etc. There are YOUTUBE videos on how to do that. It’s amazing! I did 50 a day in June to raise awareness about heart disease (prevelant in our family, thank you Agent Orange!), and 71 a day for 22 Until NONE. I’m going to issue a challenge to everyone to continue with me, for the month of August. All I want you to do is think of the number of very good people, citizens of this great republic, who have suffered such trauma to their minds, bodies, and souls, that they feel their only option is to end their lives.One is too many, much less 22.

Of course, the person has to be accepting of any help. And it’s peer to peer in most cases. Men and women who have been there, and done that. Listening to the Babe tell me of his solo trip home from Vietnam in the late 60s, I marvel at how that must have felt. I believe now groups are sent home at a time, and it’s orchestrated by the military. When the Babe came home, he was dropped at the airport, no money for a plane ticket home or anything. He was 19 or 20. A farm boy from South Dakota who escaped that Jungle Hell with his life. I am sure every military veteran ever in a war had PTSD. Now, it has a name. In the two World Wars, the men (and nurses) were told to “man up” and get back to their lives. Many, many of them were alcoholics until they died. How sad. How tortured they were. The Babe suffered from alcoholism, too. Thank God, he resolved that and his chain-smoking habit before we met. I’m so grateful for that. It’s restored him to the person he was before he took his trip to Southeast Asia.

Personally and publically, I support assistance for veterans, and especially veterans who suffer from PTSD and Chronic Pain. I can relate to the Chronic Pain, and know how hard it is to keep from being deep in a pit of depression. Guitars for Vets would help someone you know who is a veteran diagnosed with PTSD. We’ll have information about them tomorrow at the Car Show. I’m raising funds for them by selling guitar pick earrings for $10 a pair! You need some. Stop by the merch table tomorrow. Omaha, NE. 90th & Military. See you tomorrow! And do your 71 squats; or 22 pushups or squats. Just remember our warriors. We owe it to them.

Generosity RULES!

I’ve been absent a couple days. As I’ve told you before, the VFW Post 2503 Honor Guard in Omaha, Nebraska sponsored a Car Show yesterday. The proceeds went to the organization Nebraska COPS (Concerns of Police Survivors). They are a charitible organization who assist families who lose their Law Enforcement Officer in the line of duty. For 2020 and 2021, this nation lost 491 officers who were performing their jobs. Crimes against the officers has spiked in 2021.

Families struggle to pick up the pieces sometimes. The funds we raised will help send families of three Nebraska officers who died doing their jobs to Washington DC in October, 2021, for Police Week. Usually it is held in May, but due to COVID, October will be when the new names on the wall will be revealed. Think of them, will you? You may want to go to the website.

I need to review some information about mistakes made in writing children’s books. I want to see if I’ve made those mistakes and correct them before I finish the manuscript and put Cartney’s drawings on their pages. With all we’ve been doing lately, I need to put my head back to writing. And quilting. And learning to draw. And maybe cleaning the house?

I am still waiting (patiently?) for my Apple ID to become unlocked so I can try to get my Pixel 3xl backup to load on my new phone. It’s a safeguard by Apple. I get it, but I alternately applaud or curse it. I need to learn from the inconvenience and I have. We’ve all become so dependent on electronics. If we have one silly thing go wrong, we’re toast! I certainly am for the next 23 days. It’ll be ok. As I told someone, I’ve been thrown out of better places!

This will be brief today, the work of the weekend has made me need the heating pad for my achy back and the recliner for comfort. Hoping you can enjoy the nice weather today, I plan to later. Be Careful out there; Be Grateful; Be Generous; Be Kind. And Be your Best Person. Live your truth!

July 1, 2021

So here we are again. It’s the first day of the rest of this year we call 2021. I have resolved to spend every minute I can doing positive things for the rest of the year. I have issued a challenge to our VFW Post 2503, on their Facebook page. I am going to do a total 2200 Squats in July to raise awareness for Veterans Suicide. Each day, 22 Veterans commit suicide. That is 22 too many. We need to get help for them. There are programs out there for each and every one of them. Take my hand, and I’ll walk with you to get you some help. Please.

A mere 71 squats a day will give me 2201 total squats. I also am doing 22 wall pushups daily to focus closer on that number, 22. 22 is the day of my birth. I find coincidences like that very weird. Do you? It tells me I need to help any way I can. Join me. If nothing else, we’ll be stronger on August 1, 2021.

One of the fundraisers our Post is organizing is for the 50 Mile March. A walk from Lincoln to Omaha, sponsoring walkers with funds, moral support, snacks, and cheers. The funds will be divided between two Vets Support Groups, Moving Veterans Forward Nebraska, and Guitars for Vets, Nebraska. Ron Hernandez and Peg Ullom are tireless in their quest to help as many Veterans as possible have a more normal life. I love being involved with their efforrts.

Come along with me as I try to improve life around me. Concentrating on the Squat/Push Up Challenge does something else for me. It helps pass my time while I’m eagerly awaiting the illustrations for my kidlit book. I’ve combed over the narrative over and over, and will once again when I get the illustrations. In the meantime, I’m taking a Master Class on Kid Lit. It will help me identify any other holes in my manuscript, and hopefully, get them all edited out soon. My goal is to get it to the printer in September. Then the fun begins!

There is a craft show at our Post on October 2, 2021. I’d love to have my book available there. It could generate some sales, and I’d get a start on marketing/selling. I will shift my focus onto all of that. It will be an exciting fall here at Raabe Ranch, with the dogs and the Babe (not necessarily in that order)!I believe it will work like it’s supposed to work. No amount of worry will make it happen. I won’t procrastinate or ignore the next step, and I believe it will fall into place. If not, we’ll make Plan B.

I have a meeting in a bit about our July 11 fundraiser for the families of Law Enforcement Officers who were lost in the line of duty. We have 10 days, and we have already garnered a great number of donations for silent auction. People are so generous. Love it. I’d better find a snack as I’m currently starving. I hope you all have a beautiful rest of the day. I will make it one, too! See you tomorrow!

Photo by fauxels on Pexels.com

A Moving Forward Monday

The Babe and I had a great time yesterday at Patriarch Distillers/Soldier Valley Spirits. We attended a benefit concert yesterday for families of police officers killed in the line of duty. I believe it was successful for the group and hope they have what they need. They were raising travel and lodging expense money. Their loved ones will be honored in Washington DC later this year. They deserve the best treatment, especially since they will not have an easy life from now on. May God give them peace in their hearts and renewed sense of purpose as they travel on their grief journey.

Jimmy Weber, Musician, Veteran, Friend to Law Enforcement

Today, after a dental check up and doing a couple things for the Babe at the VFW, I met with the new Auxiliary President. I believe this will be a good year for the group, and we will be working as partners with the Post. Unity will take us farther than remaining separate. In many aspects, we’re re-branding the perception of what the Veterans of Foreign Wars is and does. Supporting Veterans still is the focus. How we do that has changed somewhat.

Ugh! Tomorrow, we are focusing on a deep cleaning for the upstairs of our home. We’ve been too busy to make a committed effort the last month. We need to do this, or we’ll be behind all summer. If your surroundings are cluttered, messy, and out of sync, you will be, too. Sacrificing one day will be worth it. The Babe is such a great help. It’s been a year since our cleaning team quit for other work, and I do miss the nice job they did. I don’t miss what I was paying them. That frees up some money for my writing, books, etc. It’s been worth it.

Pictures depicting “Alignment.”

No matter how much of a solitary existence we think we have, we do need others in our lives. We were created to be social creatures. No one feels better than when we have a healthy relationship with those around us, each caring for others. We’re stronger then. The least we can do to thank our Veterans, thank our Law Enforcement Officers, and all their families. We would not have what we do today if not for our freedoms being protected. Thank you, to all who protect our freedoms. We can never repay you. We remain indebted.

Thank you for catching up today. We need to all be grateful for this great country, her protectors, and our brothers and sisters who lead the charge to protect us. We are forever in their debt. Be Kind. Be Mindful. Be Safe out there! See you all tomorrow.