Happy 4th of July

I love this country. Don't you? Actually, I hope you do, but even if you don't, I'm still standing by my statement. Cause I'm just that kind of girl - the one who can say what she means even if she's the only one saying it.

I love the way that, as consumers, we demand everything NOWnowNowNOW, but the diet always starts tomorrow.

I love the way we wear our opinions on our t-shirts and bumper stickers.

I love the way we trot out our rants on blogs as though anyone cares to hear about it. That is a favorite of mine, but not in any way limited to the USA. But here's where I am reading it and writing it, so there you have it.

I love the way we can walk into grocery stores fully expecting to find whatever will fill our tummies and hearts with joy at this very moment, from Blue Bunny Bordeaux Cherry Chocolate ice cream to ranch flavored corn nuts to cinnamon bears by the pound.

I love the landscapes here. The beaches and mountains and cities and waterfalls and forests and cacutses* and plains and that one beautiful tree in Nebraska. You know the one? By that white farm house on I-80?

I love our freedoms and our families and our educational opportunities and our jobs and our postal system** and our libraries and our capitol. I love our sports obsessions and our sense of entitlement, even if it makes me cringe sometimes***. Now I feel like I need to explain that - I love the things that an "I deserve this" attitude can make possible, because it's like a jump-start for making it happen, and getting it done.

I'm glad I live here. I recognize that I automatically, even on my worst days, have it better than 90% of the people in the world. I am blessed. I am grateful. I am an American girl.

*yes. I know. But I like it better than Cacti. <-- that is a dumb-looking word, is all I'm saying.

**But I miss mail, the kind that comes with stamps in that metal box that holds my bills.

***much like several of the things I love about my kids.