Exhausted . . . Oh . . . and Happy Juneteenth!

This week we've had six house guests, including two children (one deliciously behaved with impeccable manners . . . the other . . . firmly planted in his terrible twos), staying . . . living . . . eating . . . showering . . . sleeping . . . with us.

They are members of Mom #2's family and I love them dearly, especially our Uncle Manuel. He is the BEST uncle ever. A mix of surrogate father, big brother, and best friend rolled into one; but I am so tired of being "on" and entertaining such a big rowdy group.

Generally, I'm not good with house guests. I am an anxious neurotic host. I don't do well with noise, either. I like peace, quiet and privacy; however, since my Mom lived here for almost 6 months, I've been trying to stay on my best behavior and not complain about all the comings, goings, and various idiosyncrasies of our house guests. After all, I have no room to complain, right? I actually did pretty good right up until yesterday morning, when I spontaneously burst into tears for no apparent reason. I generally am not a crier, but I think I just needed to get some form of emotion out. It was either that or yell and scream and cause an argument. I think a quick cry is better.

But anyway . . . they just packed up the car . . . buckled themselves in . . . and pulled out of the driveway. Relief.

We just moved into this new house in January, and for the very first time in six months, when Mom #2 gets off work today . . . our immediate family will be the only people in it.

Joy!

OH! And and in case anyone didn't know. Today, June 19th, is Juneteenth. I remember getting several emails last year from people who've never heard of it. It's a very Southern holiday, particularly highly celebrated here in Texas. We usually have parades, ceremonial dances, speeches by the governor and various NAACP spokespeople, and of course everyone barbecues.

Baby Boy wrote a little post about it here on my blog last year. Here's a link to it in case you need a quick American History lesson.

I think this year, we're going to celebrate by staying home and not inviting anyone over, LOL.


Have a great weekend, everyone! Enjoy the holiday, even if you're not sure exactly what you're celebrating. Never turn down an opportunity for a delicious Texas Margarita, well, actually Juneteenth is usually celebrated with Red Kool-Aide, but you can add a dash of tequila if you like, LOL. You have my expressed written permission!

Enjoy!


Until next time . . .

Happy Juneteenth!

Today we're celebrating a hot summertime holiday known as Juneteenth. It's a big deal here in Texas. If you aren't familiar with the history of Juneteenth, Baby Boy has written a few words (he's a young man of very few words) to get you caught up on the subject.


What is today? Today is June 19th, casually known as Juneteenth, formally known as Emancipation Day.

Why do we celebrate this day? This day is a huge deal, especially for African Americans. This is the day in history that they were freed from slavery. It is usually celebrated with parades, special ceremonies, and cook-outs.

When did the original event that led to this day take place? Though the Emancipation Proclamation was signed by President Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1862 and legally went into effect on January 1, 1863, it wasn't actually enforced until June 19, 1865, two and a half years later. It was commemorated when Major General Gordon Granger with 2000 federal troops in tow arrived in Galveston, Texas to take possession of the struggle to emancipate the slaves. It is strongly believed that the reason the Texans had not heard news of the Emancipation Proclamation before was because slave masters willfully withheld the information in order to maintain free labor on their plantations, although that has been disputed.



And that's your American History lesson for today . . .