Throw me into a rave like you threw a grenade-BOOM!

Hey folks,
Happy July 3rd! I love the July 4th weekend, but not because of the fireworks and BBQs and festivities, but rather because I like to do JACK SHIT. Fuzzy and I tend to get all introverted around holidays, despite the amazing invitations we get to hang out with friends. I've never been super excited about July 4th...I love America and all, it just doesn't do it for me. Talking to some friends yesterday, it occured to me that I might not get excited about it because of my upbringing. Vicksburg surrendered the Siege during the Civil War on July 4th, 1863, so for about 80 years, it was considered a "day of shame" for the town. Now, obviously, this mentality wasn't really active when I was a kid, but I do remember that for several years (til the casinos came in, really) there were no fireworks or celebrations, and that the party line from city officials was always that "they forgot." You forgot a holiday named the date of the holiday? Nice excuse.

Am I the only one who feels this way? You Vicksburg natives--do you have the same feeling towards it?

Not that I haven't had many a memorable Independence Day. Ten years ago, when I lived in Jackson, I took an awesome roadtrip down to Florida with Erica and Andrew to go visit Topher. We caravaned down with Christopher and Billy, who were going to visit Jeremy. We had some rules for the trip--Erica and I could only wear our bikini tops the whole drive down, and Andrew had to be shirtless. These were the rules whenever we were in the car, nevermind the fact that driving through the night can get really cold. Also, Erica and Andrew's mission was to teach me the words to Jane Says so that we could sing it together on the beach. I learned them, and we sang it. Also, we had printed out the directions to get from Jackson to Florida, and when we first hit the road, we were about 30 minutes outside of town, and we had the windows down and Erica was driving. The directions were tucked up underneath the sun visor, and when the sun got in her face, Erica tilted the visor down, and the directions went flying out of the window. It was awesome. Christopher called my cell phone from the other car and said "Um...were those the directions?!" But thank goodness we knew how to read a map. When we finally made it to the gas station where we were to meet Topher, we were so tired, and Erica put the car in drive instead of reverse when we were leaving, and we slammed hard straight into a pole. It was hilarious, and we STILL crack up about it to this day. "Remember when Erica drove into that pole?" Also of note from that trip: I jetskiied for the first time, we met a giant bug named Erica, I wore red lipstick for the first time and I got hit on by a man wearing American Flag Parachute Pants (who we dubbed "Patriotic Pants.") We also made an amazing documentary on the road, the likes of which none of us have ever seen again.

5 years ago, I shared the 4th of July with my friends Clint and Sarah. The 3 of us had such fun together, and we decided to celebrate by driving up to Milwaukee for Summerfest and to stay with Sarah's parents. We saw John Mayer in concert and I had fried cheese curds for the first time, changing my life forever. We got drunk at the Miller Brewery and watched fireworks from Sarah's front lawn. What made that trip especially noteworthy for me, though, is that it was the first holiday after Fuzzy and I started dating. It had been a rough month, as we were newly dating and Dad's cancer had just been diagnosed. Fuzzy was visiting some relatives in Indiana, so we were apart. I remember standing in the yard, looking at the sky and thinking, after only dating a little over 2 months, that I never wanted to spend another holiday away from Fuzzy. I knew he was the man I was supposed to be with. And every holiday thereafter we've shared.

So tomorrow, I will be celebrating by cleaning my apartment, blasting music in my living room, drinking slushy boozy drinks with my one true love, and thanking my lucky stars for being American and having that privilege.