No WAY can I shorten this blog…Be prepared!!

  Sunday at the Casa la Cave we had a regular Easter-palooza…We had Easter eggs, hidden all over the yard (yes, the Bunny made sure we found them ALL!)..There were 7 kids,8 adults..wait a minute…just what constitutes an adult at one of these events?? I do believe that “moi” could qualify as an child at times!! 

We ladies had Pink Moscato wine with a scoop of Raspberry Sorbet in it as our adult beverage of choice….The men opted to keep it simple with beer.  (Someone put the ingredients for a Brandy Manhattan out on my counter too!!) I wonder who could have done that!! I made 2 1/2 pans of lasagna, with homemade mac and cheese, garlic bread stix and cottage cheese…(Wally World made the last two ingredients)…There was Easter grass, chocolate bunnies, jellybeans, …You name it, and it was ground into my floor …And by the way, who invented Peeps anyway???? Those are just about the nastiest things I have ever encountered…I know darn good and well that they are not ANYWHERE near a major food group, and that pink/yellow/purple sugar sifts it’s way into every nook and cranny of the house…SHEESH!

At least the weather cooperated for a while and we had some fun games outside…..

…Some of the adults played tag with the kids…Thankfully we had medical personnel in the family, just in case!

Monday night Den and I attended an awards ceremony at Oswego Fire  Dept, station #1…This station is REALLY BIG.  Three new firefighter recruits were being sworn in that night, and also some awards for extreme acts were given to some members of Oswego Fire Dept..  Our son, Kelly, and the men on his shift were among them…

 

When we arrived at the firehouse, the sun was just setting..This picture is the West side of the station, and it shows just some of many bays here at Owego Fire Station #1.  It is HUGE!! We had quite a time finding a place to park, as lots of families were invited for this event…Luckily, Kelly saw us driving around and around , landing finally at the rear of the fire station….and came out to guide us in..

 

 

 

 

 

That would be our son in the middle, awaiting his award with some of the others… The “BIG CHIEF”, (Chief of the entire OFD), Chief Rick Neitzer, gave each firefighter his award and shook his hand…very cool.

Kelly gave us a tour of the entire firehouse after the ceremony. This was very impressive. And, of course you know darn well that I took some photos of the place!

The living quarters for the firefighters is upstairs..The left 2 pics are the “lounge” for their relaxation time, of which there isn’t much . (There were actually 3 different calls during the ceremony, taking a few firefighters into the night)…Right photo is the proverbial “fireman’s pole”, and there are actually 2 of them in this station…These poles go from the upstairs living area and end up right in the fire truck bays…

 

Yep, you are seeing correctly….Above is their kitchen…and each shift has their own refrigerator…That makes 3, and Paula Deen has nothing compared to these firefighters!….Pic on the right is the outdoor balcony, right outside off their living quarters.  Yet another option to just “hang out”…And would you just look at that sunset we  had Monday night!!!..The Firehouse Gods were with us for this photo shoot!!

 

This collage includes many facets of the tour…Everything from rolls of fire hose, water rescue and technical equipment truck, their gear, the garage/workshop…These fire fighters have to be prepared for ANYTHING, from entrapment, construction accidents, auto crashes, building fires..you name it….They are ALL heroes in my book!!

The ceremony was soooo great, and at the end of it the Pipes and Drums Corp played for us all…Of course Dennis and I weren’t proud at all that Kelly was ALSO one of the drummers in the group!!

 

Bear with me, I have a few more photos…Kelly and Cindy were married in Ireland on Sept. 11th, 2007….and quite a few of the firefighters and wives flew over to attend..They were married outdoors at Slea Head, Co. Kerry..

September 11th , being a very emotional memory for all emergency personnel, Deputy Fire Chief, Tom Brady, who attended their wedding, did a special reading honoring those emergency personnel who lost their lives on that fateful day…Fagan John Ryan, who presided over the wedding, presented a special copy of the reading for Oswego Fire Department.

Above is that very document, now hanging in Oswego Firehouse #1…a gift to Chief Brad Smith, read by Deputy Chief Tom Brady at Kel and Cin’s wedding in Ireland, Sept. 11th, 2007. It is pretty hard to read, but well worth it if you can..

When we left the firehouse it was dark outside…and I took a couple photos of from the front as we left…

On the left is one of the rows of bays that houses some of the fire trucks in the front of the station…Middle photo, you will notice the flags in front of OFD flying at half staff…This is in honor of a State Trooper James Sauter, who lost his life when his squad ,which was parked just off on the side of the expressway in Glenview, IL. , was rear ended by a semi and caught fire, killing him instantly…

“The ordinary man is involved in action, the hero acts. An immense difference.”

                                             ~Henry Miller