Constitutional Ammendment Proposition

I propose three day weekends become a Constitutional Amendment as I believe the longer weekends enable the citizens of this country to better pursue happiness. I know I'm happier with an extra day off!

I've been in a funk for the last week or so and haven't really been able to shake it. Thankfully this past week and long weekend helped to rejuvenate my batteries and spirits, thus helping me to face life with a more positive outlook.

To begin the "Great Rejuvenation" of Patty (thus I have decreed it will heretofore be called) I had a wonderful dinner Thursday night with friends I hadn't really spent time with for years, but it seemed like the years were just a few days (Natalie, Jodi, and Amanda). It was a girl's dinner and there was laughter all around. Cheeks hurt from laughing so much and there were even tears shed because of the happiness at the table. Two and a half hours later we finally left the restaurant and I was in the best mood I'd been in for months. My love and appreciation for these wonderful friends is unspeakable. Together we have done things no one (especially the police) need to know about and I have been a part of two of their weddings...so far. They've witnessed "tired Patty" who doesn't need any alcohol to lose her inhibitions and try anything, including "borrowing" a ladder from someones garage to climb to the second story of a house...and any other number of other things that won't be divulged here. Needless to say, I love these women and am thankful they have been, and continue to be, a part of my life.

Saturday was my "get everything done so I can enjoy the long weekend" day: mow yard, grade student papers, weed the garden, etc.. But that just prepared me for Sunday where I went for a great hike with Sage on "Moscow Mountain", communing with nature and God in some beautiful nature. There's nothing like getting away from everyone else and getting out of town. It's possible to be alone in a crowd, but it sure is noisy. The peace and silence experienced in nature afforded me the opportunity to talk some things out and get a little closer to acceptance of what I do and don't have control of in my life.

Blessedly, again, friends were a large part of my 4th of July celebrations. Eating BBQ with the Nielson clan and watching the city firework display, as well as the little kids' excitement over their own fireworks, lightened my own heart. The Nielson's are a great family and I count two of the members as my best friends. Jodi, who I went to dinner with on Thursday, and Kasey, her older brother. If I ever had a "brother from another mother," Kasey is him. The guy who can make me laugh with just one look or word and who's wife is just as wonderful as he is. Love 'ya Laura! I finally got to meet my "namesake" in their second daughter Ellie Patricia, and she's a cutie (that's her on the right doing her dance to Beyonce's "Single Ladies" song). But then, so are all of their girls.

After the culmination of little things that added up to my huge negative funk, I'm happy to say the clouds are clearing and my optimism is returning, all thanks to some great friends, communing with nature, and a three day weekend. So there's my argument for a Constitutional Amendment, anyone willing to sign my petition?