Shopaholic in Alabama

Today, we celebrate our independence on the 4th of July.  It might sound silly, but the speech given by fictional President Whitmore (Bill Pullman) in the movie "Independence Day" always stirs my heartstrings. The address was given to United States Fighter Pilots before going into battle with the enemy, and is widely regarded as one of the best inspiration speeches in "disaster movie" history.  The speech transcript and video clip is below. Although we are not fighting a war against aliens right now (thank goodness!), there are many men and women protecting our freedoms and our way of life. July 4th is the celebration of our national independence. Please enjoy the day and celebrate safely!  Good morning. In less than an hour, aircraft from here will join others from around the world. And you will be launching the largest aerial battle in this history of mankind. Mankind -- that word should have new meaning for all of us today. We can't be consumed by...

In honor of Veteran's Day, please join me in welcoming a guest blogger - My Uncle Clint.  A proud military veteran, he provides us with his insight on what this day means to him. Don't forget to leave him a little love in the comments...  I want to thank my Niece, Lori Driver, for asking me to share a few thoughts about my experiences and what Veterans Day means for this retired military man.  Veterans Day to me is one of the most significant and memorable days of the year. It causes me to pause and reflect on my own service time, my buddies whom I miss all the time, my family's collection of Veterans, and thanking all those who have ever served to protect this country. Veterans Day this year is even more significant when we have young men and women on the line fighting in Iraq, Afghanistan and other remote regions of the world. An entire new generation of Veterans is coming up through the hard fought wages of war. Veterans Day to them will mean as much if not more tha...

Happy Memorial Day Monday! We are enjoying time with family and friends during the holiday, and remembering why we celebrate the day! What are you doing to celebrate? We are supposed to go fishing today and Tuesday (start of red snapper season), but..... Life as we know it is getting ready to change around here, as our "oil forecast" now has oil approximately 10 miles off the Alabama coast. The whole deal has put a huge damper on our spirits and our celebration, but we're going to enjoy the next few days and take them one at a time. Congratulations BP, you've managed to kill the Gulf of Mexico. We'll be lucky if it's not a dead zone for the next fifty years. I'm pretty disgusted by your behavior and "management" of the situation. Then to find out you are having food trucked into the coast from far far away, rather than dine in and provide much needed business to local restaurants. Seriously, where does your God-complex end? Not only is that...