Of sudoku and history books and missing brothers ...er, brothers I miss...

I spent this last summer with my brother Victor in southern Utah, and like most strange and peculiar situations you don't really appreciate what you have until its gone. (Not that anything happened to him, I just moved away.) It is interesting to me how sitting around as he introduced me to the joys and frustrations of sudoku puzzles, and trying to talk me into reading yet another history book and watching him grow amazing variations of face furniture (he's a bearded version of chia pet!) that I didn't see how much I appreciated him. (And I am not just writing this because he is the only one who reads my blog). I was really blessed when it comes to brothers. I had three as a little kid but then my mom remarried into a family with four more (plus some sisters but I'll get to them another time). Each time I talk to any of them I always feel like I am important and they really want to know what's going on in my life no matter how boring it may be (and it is all too often) but somehow they make it important. They make me feel important. I apologize to anyone who reads this ( if there is anyone besides Vic) since this isn't my usual silly blathering blog entry. I guess I just want to put it in writing for everyone to see - Victor, Warren, Wray, Vern, Val, Wynn and Wade, I LOVE YOU GUYS. Thanks for all you do and for being the world's best brothers!

Oh the weather outside is frightful(ly warm!)

I can't believe it's almost Christmas. This year has gone by so fast! I know everyone always says stuff like that but it's true. I don't seem to have much of a holiday spirit this year. My usual Christmas knick-knacks are still in the closet. I have been playing Christmas music, but this year it is not the same. I think too many years away from family have started to make me weary of holidays. I think that unintentionally this year I have isolated myself. I was always working on my next school project or taking a well-deserved nap. I didn't call friends back like I should have, email family with news, I didn't Skype Victor as much as I could.

Still I have tried to be mindful this year of all though who are struggling. I hear in the news about how the weather has devastated the northwest, and those families in Oklahoma who are freezing. I think of the poor holiday shoppers who lost their lives to the gunman at the mall, and out military who are spending another holiday away from their families. I was depressed because I have to experience another Christmas without snow when I am sure there are many who wish they could. Each year I treat myself to a new Christmas CD. This year I picked up Michael Bublé's CD which had a song that I had never heard before - My Grownup Christmas List. By coincidence I found a great video someone created on YouTube using this song, but sung by Kelly Clarkson. I think it is worth watching.

I guess I needed some help to remember the reason for the season. I need to do more.

So I have been spending every spare moment crocheting caps which I will send off to my mom with instruction to give some to family, but to give the rest to those in need. It's not much, but I am on a grad student salary for at least 6 more months. I hope I can do more next year.

Speaking of doing more, I just got my Mental Floss newsletter for the month and it had this great story that I also want to share - Mangesh (the editor)writes:

"And secondly, I figured I’d share a little story that reminds me of why I love the holidays. Last year around this time, my 4-year old niece was going through chemo for leukemia. She was having a rough time. She’d lost her hair, and while she was all smiles, she was too weak and sick to go to school, and didn’t have much interaction with other kids. Plus, like other children in the same condition, she was asked not to travel. But here’s the sweet part: a group of retired pilots arranged this big Christmas party at a New York airport, where all these young kids with leukemia were invited and told that they were finally going to go on a trip. So the kids were giddy. They and their parents were all given tickets, and herded onto a plane. Then the shutters were closed and the aircraft just taxied around while the kids sang carols and drank punch. And when they finally pulled up to a different terminal, which was decorated in snowflakes and candy canes, and filled with Christmas trees, the kids were told they’d arrived at the North Pole. When the party was over, they hopped on another plane and traveled back to New York.

I saw my niece a week later and she couldn’t stop chattering about her trip to the Arctic. Seeing Mrs. Claus, shaking hands with elves, and armed with the evidence of having been on a real live moving plane, she knew she’d traveled to Santa’s abode. And I know it made her miserable year so much better. I love the idea that something so small- driving an aircraft from one side of a runway to the other, was dreamed up into something so much more magical. I’d love to thank those pilots for organizing such a wonderful event, and bringing so many smiles to so many sick kids. I guess it just renews my faith in people when I hear that men and women are spending their spare time dreaming up events like these, and I hope you’re witnessing similar acts of goodness in your part of the globe."


Do you have any great Christmas stories? If so, send them my way and I'll post them. I hope you all have a happy holiday season and a very merry Christmas!

Talking Turkey

Happy Thanksgiving to family and friends!

I have decided to start a blog to try and maintain my newly acquired skills learned in my technology class. That is something I am definitely grateful for, the ability to actually know how to blog and the many other technologies I have learned to use.

I want to use this blog as a way to record different things, things that are a reflection of me. Thoughts about school (until I graduate in May!!) and work, my poetry, and my letters home from camp which if you aren't familiar with you will understand when I post one. They are lots of fun. I hope to get info from and about family that I can post about too.

Today I would just like to list a few of the things that I am thankful for.
FAMILY - I have the best family in the world. We're wierd and sometimes dysfunctional, but they have helped me develop a great sense of humor which has been my lifeline when things go wrong, and if I haven't told you lately, I LOVE YOU ALL.

Pizza Delivery- Some days it's all I can do to get through the day, so it's nice when someone else brings you dinner.

Four seasons - No, not the hotel, or the classical compositions by Vivaldi, rather just the amazing ability of nature to change and renew itself, and the fact that I miss it alot since I moved to Arizona and lost three of those seasons!

Books books and more books! - This might seem like a no-brainer seeing as how I am a librarian but it never ceases to amaze me that so many books continue to come out each year all built from the same 26 letters!

Music - whether pop or classical or country or hymns, music makes me feel. Feel what? Anything, everything, I just like to enjoy whatever it brings.

Toothpaste - I love brushing my teeth, you got a problem with that?

Victor's attempt at blogging - Check it out!

Knowing more than a few answers on Jeopardy - more than a few and I feel like a genius!T-shirts - aside from them being the present staple of my wardrobe, they grow more comfortable with age.

Education - I love to learn but I am grateful that I have the opportunity to learn.

The peace the gospel brings - It's good to know.

MY FAMILY - They love me just the way I am!!