TUESDAY'S THOUGHTS

1. Footed pajamas should be more readily available for those adults who don't enjoy cold ankles at night. The socks keep my feet warm and the pants keep my legs warm, but that little space where the pants ride up and the socks slouch down is really suffering. I could really use a good pair of footed pajamas.

2. Jack the Dog is unusually fluffy and bear-like today. I know the world is full of people who are indifferent towards dogs (and I used to be one of them) but I'm pretty sure that given a chance, Jack would really grow on them. He's just like that.

3. The Lord really knows what I need in my life. Just when I've determined that he was NOT a part of the process of calling me to be a Young Women's President, he reminds me through others that he, indeed, wants me there. It's reassuring.

4. I love Christmas. LOVE it! There's something about wrapping 200+ gifts and imagining people opening them, that makes me want the holiday spirit around all the time. I don't think I'll ever get tired of looking at Christmas trees or getting whiffs of cinammon-scented pine cones. They're delightful.

5. I'm grateful for friends. I've always been that way, but the older I get the more I realize how significant they are to me. Close friends, work friends, home friends, church friends, traveling friends, college friends, mission friends - all of them. They helped me become who I am and they make me so grateful for the life I've been given. How unfortunate to not feel like you have someone you can be yourself around. I would hope I never have to experience that.

6. I should have gotten gift cards for everyone for Christmas. I think I might spend as much on the shipping as I spent on the gifts. I'll plan better next year.

7. Today when I filled out my vacation request for a trip to Central America in February, my boss looked at me, and said, half-joking, 'another vacation?!?!' I quickly responsed by saying, 'I'm living the dream, Joe Ann.' She couldn't really argue with that logic. The vacation request is already turned in to Human Resource!

OTHER REASONS TO LOVE THANKSGIVING

I've never been a Thanksgiving person. It's a family holiday and I haven't lived around family for years, I don't like huge dinners, and I HATE the thought of cleaning all of those dishes. However, because it is a holiday, there are some definite benefits associated with it. To name a few....

#1: McGriddle: These little babies are filled with bad calories and grease, but they are just so, so good. I've limited myself as to how often I'm allowed to eat them. Basically on special occasions and holidays....so thank you, Thanksgiving!!! I ate one for breakfast. It was delightful!
#2: Christmas: I'm no longer criticized for listening to Christmas music, wishing it was December, or saying 'Happy Holidays.' (True story: I said happy holidays to someone the other day and they 'reminded me' that it's not appropriate until after Thanksgiving is over). There are some serious Thanksgiving people out there and I'm going to have to say that they sort of ruin it for the Christmas people. Not listening to Christmas music until the day after Thanksgiving?!?! Pish-posh!
#3: Time and a half: Around this time is when my 6 months insurance comes due, my HOA fees get paid for the year, and Christmas gifts pile up, so the thought of being able to work and earn more than I normally earn - well that just makes sense! Plus, it makes other people that don't want to be working feel like they aren't alone in their endeavors. It's a win-win situation.
#4: Vacations: Nobody is going to question why I'm taking yet ANOTHER vacation when it falls on a Holiday weekend. I'm not going to lie. I love my vacations. So when I can say 'I'm going out of town for the Thanksgiving weekend, so I won't be here Friday,' it makes it seem like I'm joining the rest of the world in celebration of the holiday. It distracts from the fact that I will use any excuse to go on a trip.

So Happy Thanksgiving to all

(and I really mean it)

LAKE LAS VEGAS

Last night my friend, Wayne, and I went out to Lake Las Vegas to explore the Christmas lights that were put up this week. I always look forward to this time of year!

I LOVE Christmas, so this gigantic Christmas tree made me super happy!!! Because of the economy the Village at the lake is somewhat of a ghost town. It's sad because the place is magical!! There are so many things they could do with it!
Wayne is such a sport! He'll do almost anything I ask him to do! This was supposed to be one of those fun pictures where the lights are glowing around me and I'm sort of a soft hue in the background. Nope. He had it on the wrong setting. I'm just a weirdo standing in the middle of a treeAnd so ended our adventures at Lake Las Vegas. After we were done exploring we went and got ice-cream sundaes at McDonalds - Yum! Happy Holidays!

VETERANS DAY PARADE

This year at work we built and decorated a float so that some of our Veteran residents could participate. Las Vegas has the largest Veterans Day Parade west of the Mississippi and there were around 40,000 spectators there. It was TONS of work, and it turned out to be a cold and windy day, but totally worth it to see the reactions from our darling residents. I love my job!

Snuggled up and ready to roll!
There were just under 160 entries in the parade

Each resident had a flag from their specific branch of Military
I am GRATEFUL for our soldiers

Diane, our darling liaison

Seriously, how cute is Mister P.?!
Spectators cheering on the residents

Our only female Veteran

Dormisha and me trying to keep warm before it began

This was the first time I'd been to a Veterans Day Parade and it was AWESOME being able to watch all of the spectators cheer for the Veterans and come up to the float, shaking their hands and thanking them for their service. It was a fantastic reminder of just how lucky we really are!

LOS ANGELES ADVENTURE

Last Saturday (November 6th) my friend, Wayne, and I went to California to meet up with our friends, Calvin and Karissa. The plan was to attend a World Food Festival, but when we got there we found out it had been cancelled. I'm pretty sure out day was even BETTER with our 'Plan B.' Here are some highlights:

Rosa Mexicana Restaurant

The food was AWESOME!!! We will for sure go back!

Grammy Museum: John Lennon exhibit

This is Janice Joplan's car. It was the only thing we

were allowed to take pictures of :)

Headed up to the 'Hollywood' sign!

I love this picture of our shadows!!

Exploring the Getty Museum

The Getty Museum: Seriously the best place EVER!!!

Enjoying an original Van Gogh piece!!! Never mind that we got into

trouble for using flash photography but we had no idea!!
Our driver and navigator getting us to the next stop....

The Griffith Observatory!!!

Such fun views of the city
Waiting for the Planetarium show to start

Playing with the Planetarium special effects!!! He was pretty protective of it :)

What else are you going to do with a statue of Einstein?

These were just a few of almost 200 pictures that we took, but a person can only look at so many of someone else's pictures!!! It was a non-stop, whirl-wind adventure and we laughed and laughed all day long. I LOVE real-time adventures!

IN THEIR SHOES

Tonight as I was standing in line at the store I noticed a gentleman, probably in his late 30s, yelling at his 3-year-old daughter in a language I didn't recognize. He was notably irritated, and was roughly grabbing her arm to push her to the other side of her brother. Through all of this she didn't seem to be doing anything wrong and her confusion to the situation seemed to add to his frustration. Several other people in line were watching uncomfortably, and scowling at him. I've worked with child abuse before, leading to limited tolerance for mistreating a child, and I found myself thinking that if it escaladed, I would step in and say something. The scene itself stopped quickly, but I was still irritated with this man, disgusted by the way he treated his children.

We soon went to our separate counters and I was facing him as we were both checking out. As my items were being wrung up, I overheard his cashier asking him if he had a card. He seemed frazzled and replied that it was that it is under his wife's name but that he needed it changed to his name. He then become emotional and stated 'she just passed away. I'm trying to figure out how to do everthing.' As I saw the pained look on his face and the two little faces peering up over the counter, my heart broke. The cashier awkwardly apologized and offered to help him, and the rest of us looked down. I imagine that I wasn't the only person who had quickly pegged him as an impatient, disrespectful father, and it made me feel horrible for how quick I was to assume the worst of him. None of us can at all understand what someone else is going through until we've gone through it ourselves. And hopefully, we'll have someone there to help see the good in us, even if we aren't in a position to show it.