It's Twighlight Time....

No, I didn't drop out of the Thanksgiving challenge with only two days left. I just went computer free yesterday. Occasionally, I do that. However, yesterday I did miss a couple of emails, wondered what the weather forecast was (I check weather.com a lot.), was curious about what msnbc.com had up, and had to fight off a few urges to press the power button so I could play a few rounds of sudoku.

Anyway, what this means is that today, I get to list 6 things I'm thankful for. I feel like I'm leaving my last words, or some tome I hope to be remembered by. But I don't feel especially prosaic today, so you get a simple smattering of what makes me thankful. I am thankful:

1. For good friends with whom I can appreciate the campiness of Twilight. Yes, it was incredibly sappy, some weird directing, not the best hair and make-up, a rather forced intensity on the part of the cast, I thought, but I enjoyed it because my friends totally understood what I meant when I said, "That was an interesting interpretation of the book." And with these same friends I will thoroughly enjoy installments 2, 3 and 4.
2. That I have friends who want to include me in fun activities. You never outgrow the desire for play dates, I think.
3. For yummy Green & Blacks dark chocolate.
4. That this morning, I got to see one of my favourite scenes from White Christmas - the one where Danny Kaye and Vera Ellen demonstrate that....the best things happen while you're dancing....
5. That this morning, I got to sit by my friend, Lisa, in Sacrament meeting. The reason why this is significant is because of what it represents: friendships aren't based on how many minutes or hours are spent on the phone with each other, or cards and gifts exchanged at holidays, or how many times you go out to lunch together. Friendship is when you can sit by someone you haven't spoken with in months (because your paths just haven't crossed) and be as free and easy as if you just saw each other the Tuesday before. It doesn't matter that you really hardly ever see each other. You know this person would share more than a bench with you if asked, and do so happily. That's friendship.
6. For December, for the excitement and hope it brings to young and old alike.
   

It's Still November....

It's still November and I am still giving thanks. Today, I am thankful:

1. That we are nonetheless in the will.
   
2. That Emi is so sweet to do things like try to teach Annie about Noah's Ark, explaining about the rain and the animals and such....
   
3. That Annie says the silliest things, like when she responded to Emi's question during the Noah's Ark elucidation. Holding a small, plastic Little People zebra, Emi asked Annie, "What's this called?" to which Annie decidedly answered, "The striped cow!"
   

Bah!

On a slightly more cynical note than Allison's cheerful post, I'm thankful we got to leave Thanksgiving Dinner early after I yelled and cursed at my grandmother.

Note to parents and grandparents: Don't involve yourselves in things you don't understand.

On a happier note, I've shown below three special reasons to be thankful despite my present moroseness.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Here it is. Turkey Day. After our insides are stuffed, dishes and tables linens washed and leftovers put away, is the Christmas Season officially heralded in? Do we call tonight Black Friday Eve? Does it seem like today is one more holiday to rush through as we count down to Christmas? I'll admit that I have been guilty of observing Thanksgiving with no more diligence than President's day or Columbus Day. But I think this year is different. I've made myself (due to the Thanksgiving challenge) acknowledge the countless blessings that enrich my life.

You know, everyday, I really have to think about what three things I am going to list. Today is no exception. But it's not because I can't think of anything. Rather, it's because I'm sifting among precious treasures. Some of my richest blessings I can reach out and touch. Others, I can barely describe with words. Giving thanks. A whole day to commemorate what is bestowed upon us.

1. First on my list today is today. I am ever so thankful for this day. It means we have a past. it means we have a future. And in the present, we get to celebrate!
2. I'm thankful for those who will be surrounding the table today. And I'm thankful for those who I wish could fill vacant chairs.
   
3. I'm filled with gratefulness for the fact that my only contribution to today's festivities are a maple-walnut pie and a plate of sugar cookies!
   

Sleep, Teachers & Emi

I was a bit under the weather yesterday and all though I feel much improved today, I am still rather tired. So I've been having this exchange running inside my head: I think I'll just take a nap. Well, maybe I'll put in a load of laundry first.....Get the laundry taken care of...Oh, I'll just quickly check my email. And msnbc.com. And the weather. Hmm. I 'm a little peckish. Are there any brownies left? I'll grab a bite and then go take my nap....Between the kitchen and my bedroom, I spot a book I've been reading....Maybe I'll just read a chapter. Or two....An hour later ...Or seven...Oh yeah, my nap. Well, maybe I'll just play a quick game of mahjong first - before I put stuff in the dryer and then....

It looks like that nap is flying right out the window. That's okay. I am instead using my time to think about the things I should be doing while enjoying the things I am doing. And I am enjoying sharing three things to day that make me happy and fill me with gladness:

1. I am thankful to be feeling much better today. A day of sleep (yesterday) and taking it easy today have been working wonders!
2. This morning, Ryan and I met with Annie's teachers and I am so thankful that they care so much about Annie. She hasn't been the easiest part of the classroom lately (or at home,for that matter) which makes me appreciate all the more the sincere efforts they give in her behalf.
3. I am soooo thankful for Emi, for how she puts up with what she puts up with. Lately, because Annie has been so much more of a challenge, Emi has had to step aside a lot. In my heart I promise to make this all up to her, although I wonder if I even can - but I know this: even though it's tough and, quite frankly, unfair to her, Emi seems to just accept things as they are. Sometimes it's with a smile, sometimes not. And that's perfectly fine. Emi's the greatest 9-year-old and I love her!
   

2 for 1

As I finally snuggled in bed last night, just after 10, I had one of those jarring thoughts that disturb your relaxation just a titch. It was, "Yikes! I forgot to post a gratitude list today! And I even knew what I was going to write about! Oh well. I'll just do it tomorrow." Well, folks, 9 and 1/2 hours later, I remember one of the things I wanted to list. I'll type that, and then maybe the rest will come to me:

1. Yesterday, we had one of those glorious family naps! You know, where the house is quiet because mom, dad, kids and dog are all asleep. It's pure bliss. I'm sooo thankful for my Sunday afternoon nap! Okay, getting there wasn't so pleasant. We had a few minutes of fighting dreamland ("we" meaning mostly Ryan and Annie. And mom caught in the middle.) Ahh, Sunday afternoons. But it all ended well - with much needed sleep. A good 2 and 1/2 hours. (I'm still calling it a family nap, even though Emi stayed awake. She played quietly - thank-you, Poptropica! And I'm sure Ryan's favorite dog dozed while the remaining three of us snoozed on our bed.)
2. I'm also thankful nursery went smoothly yesterday. You get more than a dozen kids between 18 months and three-years-old together, and you just never know what will happen!
3. Even though I was not thrilled when Annie came running into nursery (10 minutes after primary started and with her eyes full of tears) and I kind of grumpily took her by the hand and walked her back to sharing time, I am thankful I got sit with her for awhile and enjoy singing with the primary kids during sharing-time.
   
4. Now, here's a selfish one, but I am thankful that in just about an hour and a half, I get some alone time.
5. Related to number 4 (alluding to why I am so looking forward to getting the girls to school) is that I am very grateful that we are only 9 days away Annie's next appointment with Dr.Hoffman. May the gods of pharmaceuticals smile down on this man!
6. I am thankful, even in the throes of chaos, that I am blessed with the life I have.
   

Much Thanks To All

It's only a week - actually less, I realize - until Thanksgiving. Which means it's only a week until the day after Thanksgiving. Growing up in my world, the day after Thanksgiving - Black Friday (ugh - I don't like that term!) - really meant green and red Friday. It's been the day to deck the halls, swag the banisters, hang sparkly ornaments, listen to Nat King Cole's velvet rendition of The Christmas Song, peek in dark closets and under beds hoping to glimpse hidden gifts - the day to sweep in Christmas-time. In the household of close friends, the day after Thanksgiving has been spent hand-dipping delectable home-made chocolates - and sneaking plenty of morsels along the way. And to give Black Friday it's due, it is also for many, of course, traditionally the day to start Christmas shopping in earnest.

As excited as I am to exhibit with nativities, trees, stockings, mistletoe and holly, my enthusiasm for the Christmas Season, I think I might miss what I hope will become a Thanksgiving tradition hereafter: the Gratitude List. List of Blessings, Thankfulness List. Whatever you want to call it, I have enjoyed it so much. Reading the daily lists dear friends have prepared has been delightful. And composing my own thoughts on what means so much to me has been an exercise in appreciating what the holiday season (pre-Thanksgiving to post-New Years, in my mind) really means.

Yes, what I have slowly realized over the past couple of weeks is that what fills me with overwhelming feelings of gratitude is what Christmas truly represents. Maybe I am just being reminded of what I already know, or maybe I am learning anew true gratitude - I have all that I have because of our benevolent Father in Heaven. My life is rich and blessed because of what I have been given - both tangibles and intangibles. The inconsequential things I sometimes write about aren't - even the little things mean that Heavenly Father is continually aware of me.

Over the coming weeks, as I celebrate the birth of a small baby in a lowly stable, I hope I don't lose the awe I feel today as I contemplate how blessed my life truly is!

Today, my list includes:

1. Thanks to Cryptic Jennifer for starting this ball rolling.
2. Gratefulness to friends who share their Lists of Thanks.
3. Humble thanks that I am finally figuring that this Attitude of Gratitude isn't the end in itself. Rather, it's a prelude to something wonderful!
   

A Quarter Well Spent

Ah, a breather! I just returned home from a task I am generally loathe to do. Grocery shopping. I love to smell, see and taste food, but I don't really like the process of writing my list, scanning the aisles, waiting in the slowest moving check-out line, lugging groceries into the house and finally putting them away. Grocery shopping is a task I put off for as long as I can - my record is almost 2 months for a major trip. Of course I make runs to the store for milk, eggs, chocolate, etc., during my shopping hiatuses (hiati?).

I naturally have my system worked out for the usually once-a-month major trips that include purchasing everything from bananas to bathroom cleaner. (Hey - you have to have a plan if you want to get enough stuff so that you don't have to do this again for another 4 weeks.) And the first stop is Aldi (the one on Shawnee Mission Parkway.)


I love that place! It's small, there's not much of a selection, produce can be iffy, you have to bring your own bags if you don't want to pay extra for paper or plastic, etc., but to get the basics, Aldi is a great place. And what makes Aldi so great (besides the fact that my dollar stretches pretty far there) is the section in the middle of the store where they just have....stuff. Indiscriminate stuff. Clothing, electronics, sporting equipment.... Nothing is ever in large supply, but it's there it sits(or hangs.) There might be three jackets and one Huffy bicycle and four DVD players, but the prices on those items are as remarkable as the prices on the foodstuffs.

The most arbitrary item I've ever spotted is a multi-lingual electronic dictionary - you know, the kind where you type in a word and it spits out the translation in whatever language you want. And this must be why I think Aldi is a fun place. See, I went on my mission (to Japan) over 14 years ago, and japanese/english electronic dictionaries were the thing (among the elders - I have to clarify that part. Sister missionaries, I think, were not really competitive with who knew the most words or the most obscure kanji (japanese character.) Ryan says that's because we were all too busy baking cookies! Yeah? Well, Ryan, who taught you mannenhistu?)

Okay, I diverge. But the point is, I like the randomness of Aldi. My friend Miss L's husband (we'll call him by the moniker she gave him - Super J) says that even in Europe, Aldi stores are like that - canned goods and contingent goods. I guess Aldi recognizes the importance of consistent inconsistency in today's topsy-turvey world.

So, today, I must:

1. Reiterate my thankfulness for Aldi.
2. State my thankfulness that I am able physically as well as fiscally to grocery shop.
3. Give gratitude for the abundance that fills my pantry.
   

Mirror, Mirror?

You know how kids mimic so many things grown-ups say? (And sometimes when they repeat what we've said, we don't feel so grown up....) Anyway, when I listen to my girls play, it's interesting to hear how they repeat things I say. Sometimes the context is different than mine. Other times, it's right on. I feel like I'm catching a glimpse of myself, at least of how they see me. Sometimes it's flattering. Sometimes, not.

It tickles me that when I hear Emi's Barbies being disciplined, there's an obvious (usually) undercurrent of love. She faithfully rotates her stuffed animals, so that they can all spend time with her (in the car, on her bed, sitting at the table....) And every time Annie says good-bye to our neighbor, a 10-year-old boy who walks home from the bus stop with the girls, she calls, "Bye Christian. I love you!" And she means it.

1. I can't believe how blessed I am and I am incredibly grateful to have kids who show so much love. So freely.
2. I am thankful that I know love is given freely and I'm glad I also know it's worth the hard work it sometimes requires to deepen and strengthen that love.
3. I am so thankful my family loves me. Freely.
   

29 Days, 12 Hours, 44 Minutes

You know, I've been reading lately (and hearing on the news and on the radio) about the things people in general are doing to get through this tumultuous economy we are experiencing. And I have to say, among those who are already reeling from the first waves of this storm, it seems there are two camps: (1) those who are really struggling and (2) those who really think they are struggling. Okay, I'll admit that struggling is relative. Even though I laughed at the couple who said that instead of spending $700 per kid for Christmas this year, they are only spending $300 per child; to those parents, that signals privation. As parents, I think it's natural to want to give our children the world, and if suddenly you can only give less than 1/2 the world (even though your neighbors might be struggling to give their children an acre of hopefully decent land), that's a loss (and possibly quite a significant one) to the person who's no longer able to give as planned. Did I lose you somewhere in that rambling sentence? I hope you can still follow what I am trying to say, which is that I know that what I can't see is far more telling than what I can.

Even though I , Allison, think that spending $300 per child is ridiculous (but hey, I'm the mom who occasionally buys gifts off of eBay), I do realize that what defines hardship for me might not be in everyone else's dictionary. And many, many people in our country - and all over the planet - are having to adjust their reading glasses as they search for their appropriate definition of misfortune.

I grew up in a family that had it all. And then didn't. Basically, from the time I was 9 or 10 years old, my family faced financial uncertainty pretty much all the time. You do your best to flick the bad situations as far away as you can, but like boomerangs, they can come back. Uncontrollable circumstances as well as poor decisions have been at the crux of my family's bank balance, but with that, I have learned a few important things that I am immensely grateful for:

1. I am thankful that I know that even during the longest, darkest night, on the lumpiest, hardest mattress, the dawn will come. The sun will rise. And during the daylight, I must do my best to ensure that I will sleep well when the moon overtakes the sky again.
   
2. I am thankful that I know that during a sleepless night, even if I am the only one awake and feeling very alone, stars are still twinkling. And maybe one of those stars is somebody else's sunshine.
3. I am thankful that I know that when the night sky turns to black velvet, it's not announcing the end of the full moon. Instead, the night is shouting out that is time again for a new moon. Each night the moon will continue to glow more brightly until it is full once more. Yes, the full moon will wane again, but that also means a new moon is coming!
   

Sure Glad I'm Not Hitler!

A friend had this link pasted on Facebook this morning. So funny. And it made me think:

1. I am glad I'm not Hitler. Did he really think two inches of hair across his upper lip was attractive?
2. I'm glad I'm in the house I'm in. Heaven knows it's a work in production and we're still working on bringing all of the 1975 Better Homes and Gardens decor up to at least the late 90s, and I fuss enough about our neighborhood schools, lack of sidewalks, poor choice of parks, etc., but it's reassuring to me that (a) we didn't fall victim to snaky mortgage lenders (although at least one tried!) and (b) therefore we didn't buy a house we shouldn't have.
   
3. I'm glad that our portfolio (that sounds so Wall Street to me. *Shudder* How the image of Wall Street has changed of late!), such as it is, didn't tank further before we were able to reallocate some things and actually make some money. That was certainly a case of more luck than judgement! Yeah, I know that in 30 years, the current stock market values are just supposed to be a blip on the screen. But I'm glad our blip doesn't have as far to climb upward as it could have.
4. And Ryan just called (as I was typing the previous sentence) and I am especially thankful that he survived the first round (and I hope that's the only round of lay-offs, but we shall see!)
   

And there you have it.Today's gratitude list.

Talkin' Crazy

Sometimes, Ryan surprises me by saying the craziest things. At least they sound crazy to me. I guess that helps keep the element of surprise in our relationship. Plus, it provides fodder for (a) thought, (b) laughter and (c) argument. Never-the-less, or perhaps because of this:

1. I am thankful that Ryan knows he can say absolutely anything to me. And I'll listen, even if I think he's nuts.
2. I am thankful that Ryan respects my opinions enough that when he tells me some of his tripped-out ideas and asks me what I think, I know he'll listen to my comments, even if he thinks I'm the one who's nuts.
3. I am thankful that ours is a home where we can and do speak freely to one another - that doesn't mean we are thoughtless and careless in our expressions (at least, not purposely.) We have to work hard to foster this environment and relationship with each other (including our girls) but it's certainly worth it.
   

What's good about Sunday....

Today, Sunday, began the usual way - at the crack of dawn (thank-you, Annie!) and with plenty of snarls and growls as everyone was compelled to get ready for church. And of course, despite waking up before the neighborhood rooster (presumably, since with the windows closed we don't hear him so much these days), we were 48 minutes late this morning! Yeah, that's pretty late. Maybe I should put this in a positive light and say instead that we were early for the second hour of church.

(We attend a three-hour block each Sunday, which is divided into three parts: (1) what we call sacrament meeting, which is where everyone - adults and kids alike - meet in the chapel to sing, pray, and listen to various speakers from the congregation who are generally randomly assigned; (2) a Sunday School hour, where classes are divided up by age, from 18 months to 18 years, and the grown-ups are given the choice of which adult class to attend, all classes focused on the scriptures; (3) Priesthood (a men's auxiliary)/Relief Society (a women's auxiliary) where the lessons presented focus more on the here-and-now. Oh yeah, after our sacrament meeting, kids ages 3-12 go to primary, which is like a children's Sunday school for the remainder of the time and kids aged 12-18 have their own auxiliaries also for the last hour.)

In our case (Ryan's and mine), after the first hour we serve in the nursery (for 18-month to three-year-old kids) for the remaining two hours. So that's what we were early for today. Today we had only 9 or 10 kids. Last week we had 17! (So why did I have a headache today and not last week?)

Yeah. Sundays. And right now, Annie is running around practically naked.....and is being sent to her room for yelling at me. Typical Sunday. You know, being a day of rest and all that. However, I am actually very thankful:

1. For Sundays. Despite the craziness that seems to have become the hallmark of the day, I do appreciate a day where I can rest(?) from the cares of school, work, shopping, laundry, fixing dinner - oh wait, I still have to do that, don't I....
   
2. For the opportunity to attend church each week and worship as I believe. It's perhaps not as much from the prepared talks and sermons that are delivered from the pulpit, but more often in the little remarks and gestures between friends at church and throughout the week, that I see what I believe, as member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints, taking root in me and strengthening my life.
3. That I am able to enjoy (more or less) each Sabbath day with my family and many wonderful friends, who have become my family,too.
   

And on the 15th....

I am tired. Very tired. And it is only 6:13 p.m.. Can I go to bed now? Surely the girls and Ryan can fend for themselves. If I hear one more "Mommmmmyyyy" or "Tell her to stop it!" or anymore crying or yelling (except my own, of course) you might see me on tomorrow night's news. "Kansas City mom goes batty and begins running frantically around her neighborhood screaming, 'Chocolate...must have...chocolate...NOW!'"

Anyway, I am thankful, today, that:

1. Bedtime is getting closer with every tick of the clock.
2. Normally, my kids don't drive me bonkers.
3. There are lots of good meds available for my sanity!
   

November 14th's List

With no preamble, I am just going to tell you what today, I am thankful for:

1. Good friends. You know, the kind of friends you can laugh with and cry with. Friends you can just be free with, holding absolutely nothing back. Friends you can not actually speak with for months on end, but when you do finally reconnect, it's like only a few days have passed. These are friends you can share crazy secrets with, and ridiculous memories....like the time we went skinny-dip---oops, I'm not supposed to say anything about that night! My wonderful friends are the kind I can do anything with, say anything to, and we'll still be friends the next day. How lucky am I?
2. My Book Group. Okay, I'm not a teenager (or even an occasionally irresponsible college student) anymore, so I think I'm somewhat more restrained than I used to be, but these ladies certainly fall into the category described above in number 1.
3. Friends I haven't even made yet. I'm looking forward to becoming kindred spirits!
   

Surreal

Dictionary.com defines surreal as "having the disorienting, hallucinatory quality of a dream; unreal; fantastic." Has anything ever happened where you just have to step back and say, "This is not my life! This is not happening!?"

I'm not talking about life-shattering experiences, like being told by a doctor that your child is missing some pretty important genetic material or has some odd chronic disorder (which, by the way, is not as bad a thing as one may initially suppose) or opening your front door to Ed McMahon and the Publisher's Clearing House crew (which would presumably be a welcomed curve-ball.) I mean, those things can happen, too. But I am referring to more of the everyday stuff that helps you appreciate the everyday stuff. Like sitting in an airport restaurant and having a waitress spill a carafe of milk down your front and when you get to your final destination a few hours later (still wearing your damp-and-beginning-to-smell-funny-shirt) you discover that the airline has lost your luggage! (True story - happened to my mom.) Or filling up your gas tank and then getting your car totaled - and you find yourself wondering what are you more upset about: the wrecked car or the wasted gas? Does any of this make sense to you? If it does, I'm sure you'll appreciate this Talking Heads video.



And with all this, can you laugh? I have just got to say that I am thankful that:

1. I have been blessed with either an incredible insensitivity to what is actually happening at times, or else I have been amazingly blessed to find humor in the strange reality that occasionally infringes upon my life.
2. I am lucky to have at my side someone who can laugh with me.
3. I have a life that is so rich and varied in what it offers me.
   

Ai-Ai-Ai!!!

I can't believe how much we put into the health care system. Literally. I am talking about cold, hard cash. Or plastic, actually. Every year, when we are determining out how much to put into our pre-tax flexible spending account (FSA), I figure out how many doctor's visits we'll probably make, how many prescriptions we'll have filled, try to estimate dental and eye care costs, pull a number out of the air that might equal what we'll spend on personal health care sundries, and then add about another 10 percent to the total. And we spend more than that guesstimate before the fiscal year comes to a close.

Don't misinterpret me: what I am saying here is that I love having an FSA. I shudder at what we spend annually. I double-shudder at the thought of forking out that money after taxes! And here's a great irony: despite chronic medical conditions, I think we are a basically healthy bunch!

Can you tell I've just gone to a doctor's office for the 4th time in the past three weeks? No, nothing's wrong - at least no more or no less than usual! I've just been ferrying my kids between various health practioners' places of business. Oh, and I've made a couple of stops at the pharmacy. And you know, I'm glad I am able to do this, because I love my family and and keeping the US health care system afloat is one way I can show Ryan and my girls that I will do whatever I can for them. Today:

1. I'm thankful for my health, as well of the health of each member of my family
2. I am also thankful for the multitude of actions that we can take to measurably improve our constitutions. (Does anyone sense some New Year's resolutions coming?)
3. Of no less importance, I am thankful for our IRS-approved Flexible Spending Account!

Remembrance Day

Remembrance Day. Veteran's Day. Call it what you will, this is the day we honor the brave men who, amidst the living and the dying, shared love, laughter, hope, dread. Men, boys, alone and together, fought for loved ones, wept bitter tears, offered prayers of thanks and plead for help. Memories almost 100 years old. Fading, because who is left to remember?


I prefer to think of today as Remembrance Day, perhaps because my first memory of this day, I am standing in front of a small brick library, shivering in the cold November wind that sweeps across the plains. I am just 6, aware of intense emotion surrounding the large group as we huddle together. Men and women, boys and girls, we have each pinned red poppies to coats and scarves. My brother, 8 or 9 years old, reads an essay he has written recognizing all who fought during WWI, but especially my Grand-dad.

At the age of 14, with England at war against the encroaching German and allied powers, Grand-dad, my mother's father, convinced an enlistment officer he was 16. Somewhere, in the place where boyhood is left behind and manhood is entered into, Ernst Whitelock existed. His story is complicated, and not well recorded, yet too well known. For the remainder of his life, he and those around him, including his future family, bore the scars of the Great War.

The war finally ended, with the signing of the Versailles Treaty, among several others. But treaties don't give back lost years. An elaborate signature won't bring back husbands and fathers, brothers and sons. An authorized stamp won't dry wet cheeks. The war to end all wars didn't. Is that why we remember? So that four years won't be allowed to be simply catalogued and forgotten in the annals of history?


Is celebration the right word to describe the activities and ceremonies that mark today? Maybe. Maybe we are celebrating that, collectively and individually, we do give recognition to something that, the rest of the year, normally occupies a few pages in the world's history books. We are commemorating with our hearts and minds something real. We are commending life and memorializing death. Because if we don't, who will?

I want to say:

1. Thank-you, Grandad. And thank-you, all young soldiers. Whether you fought with the Entente Powers or the Central Alliance, whether you fought in WWI or any other, I am so sorry for what you have lost, but so thankful for what you have given.
2. I weep tears of gratitude and sorrow for the families and loved ones left behind.
3. I am thankful for the simple red poppy and what it represents.

In Flander's Fields

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row,
That mark our place; and in the sky
The larks still bravely singing, fly
Scarce heard amid the guns below.

We are the Dead. Short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flander's fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, tho poppies grow
In Flander's fields.

Liet. -Col. John McCrae

Breakfast Cookies

On a chilly autumn day - like this one - tantalizing smells from the kitchen should be invading the air we breathe. I have done my part - to make the atmosphere in my home as it should be - by making breakfast cookies. Yes. Breakfast cookies. An old high school friend (who accepted my friend request on facebook!) shared her recipe. And since she majored in Nutrition (I think), you know they have to be good for you, right? I mean, anything with oatmeal, powdered milk, whole wheat flour, peanut butter, nuts, and of course, chocolate chips, has to benefit the body. And what do we hear about breakfast being the most important meal of the day? Shouldn't we then welcome the morning and our entry into it with gooey cookies fresh out of the oven?

Now you know where I stand and it won't surprise you that today, my gratitude list begins with:

1. My friend Julia and her no-nonsense approach to breakfast. Yea for breakfast cookies!
   
2. Rhodes frozen bread. Fresh-baked bread smells heavenly. My girls and husband love slicing it when it's still so warm, it practically falls apart. And because I bake it myself, I feel like I am giving my family something a bit healthier than a loaf of Iron Kids sandwich bread.
   
3. Stephens Hot-Chocolate. I am especially partial to their hazelnut and orange creme flavours. I am so glad my mother insists that I throw a couple of cans in my suitcase whenever I visit, since it's hard to find out here. (I have learned that if you do toss a can in a checked bag, you should first place the can in a ziploc bag because the can might explode while the plane is in the air.)
   

And on Sunday....

Today, the children's primary put on a lovely program at church. They sang songs I remember singing as a child. I recall nervousness and excitement when, as a child, I found myself sitting in the big chairs up at the front of the chapel. It was always a day when my mom insisted on hair curled, sashes tied, white shirts pressed, neckties straight.... It's nice, I think, to be reminded of the simplicity of the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Especially when those reminders come via little songs, scriptures, and lines presented by children. Today, I am thankful for:

1. Beautiful children who share their love for Jesus through songs and memorized lines. And what makes this so profound is that these kids don't even know they are teaching me!
2. Two little girls in pink plaid taffeta who gave their very best today, especially given that one of them suffers terribly from stage fright.
3. Rhonda, Hallie and Sung-ti, my regular troops, and Ellen and Jessica, today's special forces. Oh, and Ryan for doing reconnaissance work. (If this doesn't make sense to you, don't worry. Just know that my thanks for/to each one of these people runs deep!)