Oh, to be of Celtic origin...

This past Saturday, we had our annual meeting with the Patriot Guard Riders. We met for registration and then went on a couple of short rides from town and then took a plaque of honor to a widow whose husband (a WWII purple heart veteran) recently passed away. Then we had our meeting and social time. One of the couples we were talking to were a man who had served in Germany and his wife who is from there; it was familiar for Gil to hear the German accent. I noticed a pin on the man's vest; it looked like bagpipes so I asked him if he piped. He said, "Yeah, that's what the license plate on my bike stands for." The plate says "piper". Being on a motorcycle, I had assumed it was for motorcycle pipes... y'know... loud pipes save lives and that whole business. Nope. It was Scottish bagpiping! Go figure. I said something about how cool it was that he piped and he said his wife was a drummer. I then asked if they were going to be performing at the Highland Games this coming weekend. I've been planning to go for a couple of weeks now but it'll be fun to watch someone we know.

Our city is hosting its first ever Highland Games this weekend and I'm so excited to go. I've never been to the ones held closer to my hometown but I have been to a huge Celtic Festival when I lived in Connecticut. I know that I haven't been raised in many of the traditions of any of my heritages, but I have always been drawn to them... so naturally, I am always interested in anything Celtic, whether Irish or Scottish.

Speaking of Scottish things, I'm taking a few minutes before falling asleep each night to do some pleasure reading. By that, I mean fiction. Most of my current reading is either work or adoption related. Anyway, I'm reading The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon. I'm currently on the third book (of six), titled "Voyager". These books are "historical fantasy" set in 18th century Scotland and I don't recommend them for the faint of heart or easily disturbed. There are vivid descriptions of evil and sinful sexual perversions and atrocities, as well as descriptions of the wars and rigors of daily life 200 years ago, but they are so few and far between, it's easy to forget about it. The adventurous love story of the two main characters make it easy for me to become lost in a time warp when I'm reading.

This post is mostly odd ramblings because nothing much is really going on. I'm so busy at work right now, with our fiscal year end being June 30th. I have been able to get some things off my desk this week but I still have 4 of those 10 audits remaining, more research projects assigned, and a new physician to educate starting July 3rd. It's definitely never-ending but I guess that's job security. I'm actually sitting on the couch right now after working an hour and a half late tonight (which makes a normal 10-hour work day 12 hours) and rushing home to make dinner for a hungry husband. I should be cleaning the house as we have friends coming over for dinner tomorrow but I just don't have the energy to get up and move around. Karma has decided that the 3 months we spent working on getting her to sleep later (until 5:30!) wasn't worth it and has gone back to waking up at 4:00! Yikes. I hope you all have been enjoying some nice weather after the long rainy, spring season we had. I tell ya, it's sure been fun being able to ride the Harley to work every day!