I Am Thankful
For my Savior, who loves me so much, and who without Him none of this would be possible
For my husband, who loves me just the way I am
For my kids, who in one minute can drive me crazy and in the next make my heart melt
For my parents, who raised me well and are still there for me today
For my sister, with whom I share a bond that only other sisters can understand
For my nephews, who I love as if they are my own
For my church, for giving me a place to truly worship, learn, fellowship, serve, and grow
For my pastor, who in the same sermon presents the simple plan of salvation and also a deeper challenge to those of us already saved
For the freedom to worship openly
For a job that I want to go to and that uses the talents He gave me
For the health of me and my family
For a home and vehicles that do the job and that I enjoy
For a pantry full of food and the ability to buy more whenever we need or want it
For closets full of clothes for my family, and toy bins full of toys
And I could go on and on because God just keeps blessing! This is not to say that life is easy but that wherever we are (on the mountain or in the valley) we are still so blessed! I am so thankful for all He has provided me in life. Mankind is so undeserving but He keeps blessing us anyways! What are YOU thankful for and how can you be a blessing to someone else this holiday season?
My Take on Shopping Safety Tips
I got an email this week with safety tips for holiday shopping. There were some really good tips like “maintain your awareness as you walk through the parking lot” and “store parcels in the trunk of your car and not in the back seat.” But some of them I couldn’t help but respond. Below are some of the tips with my response in italics.
Try to avoid shopping alone. Who shops alone on Black Friday? Isn’t that part of the point, for you and your crazy girlfriends to line up outside some store in the middle of the night and “bond” over a hot drink and sale papers? If you are alone it’s because you can’t be at two places at once so your girlfriend has your Walmart lists while you’re at Target.
Do not wear expensive jewelry, and take care to dress in a modest, inexpensive outfit that will call minimum attention to you. So basically dress like I always do.
Arrange your shopping itinerary so that you acquire your most expensive items last. How is that possible? We all know the electronics store only carry two of the most sought after items and you have to get in line at midnight to have a chance at buying just one of those when they open at 5 a.m.
Park as close to the building as possible or select parking spot near the main flow of traffic. The end row is ideal. Park in well lit areas, preferably under a parking lamp or near a light source. On Black Friday, people park on the grass, the curb, anywhere they can make their car fit. “Ideal” is having someone drop you off at the door, drive around while you shop, and pick you up back at the door.
Know where your children are at all times. At home with their dad.
Seriously, be careful and Happy Black Friday Shopping!!
Kids in Zero Gravity
There’s chatter at work that I may be sent to fly on one of the reduced-gravity flights that I spend so much of my time writing about. Part exciting, part scary.
A co-worker shared this video with me of these little kids on a simulated reduced-gravity flight with their pilot dad. Very funny to watch but kinda adds to my anxiety.
An entirely adequate welcome to “Entirely Adequate”
I’d like to welcome my fellow tech writing grad student, Suzanne, to Blogs I Read. Suzanne is a former newspaper gal, like myself. I don’t meet too many people in my everyday life who know what picas are and how to use them. (Pica, pronounced with a long ‘i’ and a hard ‘c,’ rhymes with the name Micah.)
I love what she has to say about naming her blog “Entirely Adequate”:
“Entirely adequate” was a common newsroom compliment during my copy-editing days.
If you don’t think it’s a compliment, then you’ve never worked at a newspaper.
It’s also a bit of a mantra: Most things in life turn out to be entirely adequate, and that isn’t the worst thing you can ask for.
Station Sighting #2
I saw the space station again tonight. This time I knew better what to look for, and I was pretty excited to share the experience with my mom and my boys. Tonight was also cool because the space shuttle was docked to the station, so I actually was seeing both.
Finn wanted to know if it was my space shuttle. Actually, he first asked my mom if I was going to be on the space shuttle. (He goes to her house after school on Thursdays so was there before I was.) Poor thing still confused about exactly what mommy does at NASA (It’s OK. Some days I am too!). This mission is actually the first in a while that I haven’t met or interviewed someone up there.
Also kinda cool to see the station & shuttle on the date of my two-year anniversary with NASA and the 10-year anniversary of the station. Such a transformation for me from two years ago, when I had no awareness of the orbiting laboratory overhead, to now, when for the second time in 30 days I’ve actually seen it pass over.
Amazing Grace
This family has several videos on their web site of their Christmas lights synced to several different songs (Music Box Dancer, Carol of the Bells, Miracle on 34th Street, to name a few) and even one called Space Walk to the recording of an astronaut on a spacewalk. The video below is to a techno-mix of Amazing Grace.
Pomegranate 7UP
Publix was giving away samples of this tonight. I didn’t even have to taste it to know I wanted to buy some. I love flavored lemon-lime drinks and this one is a good one! (On a sidenote, did you know cherry limeades at Sonic are just Sprite with cherry syrup?)
Remember when Cherry 7up first came out in the 80’s and the commercials looked like your whole tv was filling up with pink soda? I loved that stuff! Peach Nehi or Peach Sunkist are other carbonated fruity favorites. Another current soda that’s similar to the Pomegranate 7up and also good is Cranberry Splash Sierra Mist. I recommend trying them all.
Photos of Fall
I decided to change my header with a nice fall photo that I took of a leaf-filled gutter outside Kohl’s — you never know where you’ll find beauty! Here’s the original and a few others.
