I Want to Know What Love Is

Hate it or love it...I'm giving you at one of my favorite love song's at least once a day through Valentine's Day. This one, "I Want to Know What Love Is" by Foreigner is from the early eighties is very dear to my heart. Hope you enjoy!

Lincoln Bicentennial

Happy 200th, Mr. Lincoln

Springfield's favorite son, Abraham Lincoln, is the center of attention as the world celebrates the 200th anniversary of his birth today. Events are going on through the 22nd throughout central Illinois, which culminates with an appearance by President Barack Obama this evening after his much touted appearance at Caterpillar in Peoria. The President will speak briefly at a Lincoln banquet at the Crowne Plaza hotel. The banquet is of course sold out.

Having lived several years in Springfield and most of my life in nearby Jacksonville, I have had the honor job of tour guide of the Lincoln sites for many friends and family members. My favorite local Lincoln site would have to be Lincoln's Tomb. Once you are inside the burial room, it is dark and a little creepy. The large monument does not contain the 16th President. He is buried very deep below.

Along the south wall of the burial room are five crypts containing the remains of Mrs. Lincoln and three of Lincoln's four sons (his eldest, Robert Todd Lincoln, is buried at Arlington National Cemetery).

According to the State Journal-Register, “Reflections: The American Funeral,” a mobile exhibit on funeral traditions, will be at the Lincoln Tomb State Historic Site in Oak Ridge Cemetery through Sunday. A special feature is a reproduction of Abraham Lincoln’s casket with a tracing of his nearly three-week-long funeral procession. The exhibit is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily through Sunday. Here are some great shots of Lincoln's Tomb, but there is plenty more to see.

....U.S. National Historic Landmark (left)

The model of the sculpture at the Lincoln Memorial in Lincoln’s Tomb’s rotunda.



Inside the crypt burial room.

For all the 411 on the Lincoln events, check out the Springfield's State Journal-Register's Bicentennial page (http://www.sj-r.com/bicentennial). When you get the chance, be sure and visit Springfield!

Valentine

This is the Valentine I received last year, one of my favorite's ever--short and sweet. I don't keep every single greeting card, but some I will keep forever or as long as I can. And no you can't see the inside LOL. I will tell you that it had a nice bonu$ enclosed though! Nothing says "I Love You" like cash...well for me anyway, I can't have sweets, sure don't want roses, and am always too exhausted to go out for a romantic dinner. Despite the fact that this is our 22nd Valentine's Day together, we don't have the same civil right as our straight friends to legally marry in this state. Does that seem fair to you? It doesn't to me!

I remember our first Valentine's Day, we did go out to dinner, I got a box of chocolates and flowers. We don't have to do that every year. We don't get to enjoy our holidays as much, since we work in a holiday industry. Don't forget your special Valentine! If nothing else, a card will do, just to show that you care. Happy Valentine's Day!

Roses Roses Roses!

I won't have much time to "write" in my blog for a few days, because I will be working more hours. Here's a few snapshots I took after my 10 hour work day today. It will be hectic at work until Saturday--Valentine's Day, but it is worth it. Customers have been pleasant both on the phone and in person. Our drivers will see hundreds of happy smiling recipients in the next three days! It's fun to see all the romantic and some mushy card messages, but of course, we keep that very private.

The first picture is a closeup of a large bucket of our most popular red roses. Each bunch contains 25 roses. Valentine's Day is our busiest day of the year. With the holiday falling on a Saturday this year, we are getting many orders for Friday delivery to businesses. That will help immensely with our last minute walk-in customers. Most people wait until the last minute, which can cause chaos (but nothing we can't handle).


Roses and flowers as far as the eye can see! Most of are red roses are called "Freedom." They come in lengths from 40 cm. to 70 cm. We also have an abundance of pink roses and roses of just about every color imaginable. These are just the ones that are not in the cooler that came in today and have to be conditioned or "take water" before being refrigerated. A floral preservative has been added to the water for longer lasting roses. This "floralife," as we call it, will also be added to all arrangements as they are made. These roses will all be sold by Saturday and another shipment will be in tomorrow and Friday. We have about 1,200 roses on hand now. We can only handle so many at a time due to buckets needed and floor space.



Here's a shot of one of our "specials" tightly packed into a flower cooler. I may post more flower pictures by Saturday, since I won't have much time to actually "write" much in a post, at least the blog will have some fresh content...fresh as a daisy (or in this case, a rose)!

Love is in the air!

This John Paul Young hit, "Love is in the Air" from 1978 remains a classic love song even today. Thanks to antobilic (Alex) on youtube for putting together this slideshow of loving pairs of pets and animals. If you're as old as me (or older) then I hope hearing this song will bring back some good memories...of another time...the end of the disco era, and for me my fun filled teen age years.

Love is in the air...everywhere I look around.
Love is in the air... every sight and every sound.
And I don't know if I'm being foolish,
don't know if I'm being wise...
but it's something that I must believe in
and it's there when I look in your eyes...