July has always been a busy month in our family. It seems that any spare birthday, anniversary or patriotic or civic holiday or celebration has been crammed into this month.

• July 4th - Independence day
• July 5th - Uncle Earl's birthday
• July 5th - Andy's mom's birthday (Happy birthday Cheri.)
• July 7th - Niece Amy's birthday (Hope you had a happy day Amy)
• July 16th - Mom and Dad's Anniversary (They were married 53 years ago. It was a long day for Dad this year. Thanks to all of you that called and helped him through. He really appreciated your support and calls.)
• July 18th - Uncle Gene's birthday. (Happy birthday uncle Gene, sorry I am late, I did think about you on the 18th.)
• July 20th - I turn 49.... at least it's not 50....
• July 21st - Birthday of the greatest dad in the world... mine... (We will share a cake and celebrate our birthday together for the 49th time this year. I cannot think of anyone I would have rather shared all those special days with than you Pop. I love you.)
• July 24th - My cousin Geron's birthday. (Hope you have a great birthday. Eat all the cake you can because you never know when they will take it away from you... trust me...)
• July 24th - Brother In Law John Adam's birthday (Happy birthday Johnny.)
• There are more but I can't remember all the dates. Mine and dad's good friend Fred James was born in July. Gary Dan Rudder was born this month also. Fred, Gary, Dad and I all worked at Dan Rudder Motor Company and we along with the rest of the dealership would have a big party in the middle of July to celebrate all the birthdays.
• Also on July 24th -  Dream Girl and I will celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary on July 24th, 2008. Today I bought her a set of three wicker clothes hammer/baskets. I told a friend what they were for and he suggested that I stop at the jewelry counter. I can only assume that indicates that the baskets are either not appropriate or should accompany something more personal. The 15th anniversary is called the Crystal Anniversary. some would think that would involve a gift of perhaps a nice set of crystal wine goblets. Or even a nice watch. But no... My first thought went to Dilithium Crystals which are the crystals used as fuel to power the space ships in Star Trek. Imagine my chagrin when I learned that, according to the Internet, not only are Dilithium Crystals not real but apparently Star Trek is a work of science fiction. What the hey.... So no watch, no wine glasses and surprisingly enough no Dilithium Crystals. I am  running our of options. I did see a nice, understated crystal necklace (over <--- there) but I should have ordered it sooner as it could never arrive from Mongolia in time for the big day. And then it hit me... The answer has been staring me in the face all along. I'll get her a 65" LCD television. How does that work into the  crystal anniversary you might ask.... Well it seems that you forgot as I did that LCD stands for Liquid Crystal Display.

!!!!SCORE!!!!

Dream Girl... I love you with all my heart. It seems like I have loved you forever and yet my heart jumps when I see you like we are newlyweds. You are my life.