Who do I still think I am??

This one's about blowin' stuff up.

30DBC PROMPT: "What funny things I remember on this date?"

Hello friends! Happy birthday, America! It's Independence Day, where I'm bracing myself for an evening of loud noises because what better way is there to show love for your country by blowing stuff up?

I'm not particularly festive for the occasion...I'm sure I've alluded to the fact the last few days that I'm not exactly fond of fireworks displays, and since I still don't really know anyone in this town I'm not going anywhere (which I'm completely fine with). Hopefully most of the excitement will have died down at a reasonable enough time when I want to try and get some sleep.

I'm having a bit of a hard time trying to recall any funny July 4th events. Nothing of note jumps out at me. The first year I was with my ex, I procured some fireworks from kids in my neighborhood for her sons, and we blew up some of their stuffed animals...we did a number on the poor little Taco Bell Chihuahua. That was a pretty fun time, as well as a good bonding session. Other than that, I think I've managed to mostly stay out of trouble. I've had fun, but nothing to the extent of "Remember that one Fourth of July where we...". I dunno. I feel like I'm forgetting something though, like I really should've done something more exciting than shoving a bunch of firecrackers into a stuffed dog.

Nope...I got nothin'. I'm a little disappointed by that.

BCF PROMPT: "There is no prompt for BCOF, have a safe, happy holiday! If you do not recognize the 4th have a great day free writing. Prompt will be posted for Saturday as usual."

Well, that takes care of that! It's probably good that there's no prompt, because apparently July 4th has become one of the more boring days in my existence.

MUSICAL BREAK!!

Fortunately, there's a song named specifically for today!

THE DAILY BOX SCORE:

"What was your favorite family outing? Did you go somewhere? What made it special to you?"

I know I've written about it in the past, but probably the best family vacation I've been a part of was going on a cruise. It was with my stepmom's extended family...aunts, uncles, cousins, husbands and wives, almost everyone. And she's got a big family...she was one of eight kids, so there were a lot of us.

Going on a cruise is probably hands down the best way to take a vacation. I know there have been some stories in the news recently about horrible conditions and terrible experiences, but I think those are so few and far between. I have nothing bad to say about our cruise...the food was great, the service was excellent, and everyone had a lot of fun. We went through the Bahamas, where the weather was gorgeous nearly the entire week, and there were so many things to do that you never felt like you were stuck with the same people in a hotel room like some vacations tend to end up.

I think the highlight was getting ready for the Captain's Dinner...a bunch of the ladies went to one of the islands that afternoon and got their hair braided. One of my aunts is Korean, and for some reason she wound up looking hilarious. It was such as shock...as we were assembling to go down for dinner, I turned around and she was right behind me. I was like "Oh my God! Who invited Coolio  ?" My cousins thought that was pretty funny. There was also the night my youngest brother and I were wandering around the ship at 3am with a bottle of champagne, causing trouble. There was a group of students on our floor...they were on some class band trip or somethin', and their chaperones gave them a curfew. Apparently when everyone in their group was accounted for, they'd run masking tape over their doors...so we thought it'd be a fun idea to rip all the tape down. Needless to say we could tell there were some pretty pissed off people at breakfast the next day.

Overall though it was a really nice getaway. Cruisin' is the way to go.

Here's a feel-good story from my hometown...a kid with Asperger Syndrome   graduated as the valedictorian of my old high school recently. Makes me proud to say I'm from Cheektowaga, NY.

And today is also Grateful Jess 's birthday!! Whoo hoo! If you see her around, send her some nice thoughts and stuff.

Well, I think it's time for me to bust outta here for another night...I haven't been feeling well most of the day and as it's starting to get darker I'm really not looking forward to dealing with the bombs bursting in air and whatnot. If you're out and about, stay safe and have fun...try not to blow any fingers off. Peace, I still remember your sweet everything, and GOODNIGHT NOW!!